Marler discusses the growing recognition of chronic health problems stemming from food poisoning, highlighting cases like Sarah Pierce, who at 30 has suffered repeated kidney failure, spent three years on dialysis, and received a kidney transplant after E. coli infection. Her anti-rejection medications carry high birth defect risks, forcing her to rule out pregnancy. "I would have liked to have had children," she says. Medical experts are increasingly linking long-term conditions to past food-borne infections: Campylobacter causes Guillain-Barré syndrome, salmonella triggers arthritis, and E. coli O157:H7 can lead to hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), with 25 to 50 percent of cases resulting in kidney failure and other problems up to 10 years later. "What the classical medical literature says and what we've seen is not the same," notes
Donna Rosenbaum of STOP. Marler emphasizes the staggering costs: "Anyone with HUS will be monitored for the rest of their lives. If the acute course was severe enough, the risk of long-term kidney complications, including end-stage renal disease and kidney transplant, is quite high. The future medical cost alone can then be in the millions." He represents families like the Armstrongs, whose daughter Ashley has only 10 percent kidney function and will likely need multiple kidney transplants before adulthood. The CDC estimates 76 million annual food-borne disease cases, with 5,000 to 9,000 deaths, but the long-term toll is only beginning to be understood.
From The New York Times to CNN, Bill is trusted by lawyers for his expertise on food safety.
