June 8, 2015 — Ice cream produced at a Blue Bell Creameries facility in Sylacauga, Alabama has tested positive for Listeria and a man who ate it nearly died from meningitis.
The Associated Press reports that Brent McRae, a 75 year-old man from Florida, fell ill after eating Blue Bell’s Cookies & Cream ice cream.
His wife sent the ice cream to an independent lab in Miami, Kappa Laboratories, where it tested positive for Listeria. Health officials in Florida and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) could not confirm whether the strain of Listeria matched those linked to the outbreak.
McRae’s son talked to the San Antonio Express-News and said his father fell into a diabetic coma for more than a week and had symptoms consistent with meningitis, an invasive infection of the brain and spinal cord. Meningitis is one of the most serious complications of listeriosis.
Due to his poor medical condition, doctors did not take a spinal fluid sample to diagnose the condition. He now faces an “extremely slow recovery.”
Regardless of whether he was actually infected with Listeria, this is the first time ice cream from a Blue Bell facility outside Oklahoma has tested positive for the pathogen. The company recalled all of its ice cream and shut down four facilities after an outbreak of listeriosis sickened at least 10 people in four states.
Do I have a Blue Bell Ice Cream Lawsuit?
The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting ice cream induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has been diagnosed with Listeria, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Food Poisoning Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.
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