What to do if I got food poisioning from out of date milk?

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What to do if I got food poisioning from out of date milk?

I recently was hospitalized for 4 days with excessive vomitting. I am disabled with diabetes and kidney disease. I was unable to explain my illness to the doctors. When returning home from the hospital, I looked in my refrigerator to grab the milk that I had purchased on the 24th but the date on the milk said the 20th of 2 months ago. Being that I had only eaten what I had made with the milk, I am sure that my illness came frrom the out of date milk that I purchased. It was just an 8 oz bottle of milk and I didn’t think to check the date; the vendors usually throw out old product upon restock. Are the vendors liable for my hospital bills and punitive damages?

Asked on September 29, 2012 under General Practice, Virginia

Answers:

S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 11 years ago | Contributor

If you have completed your medical treatment and have been released by the doctor, obtain your medical bills, medical reports and if applicable, documentation of any wage loss.

Prior to filing a lawsuit against the store where you purchased the milk, it may be possible to settle the case with the store's insurance carrier.  Your personal injury claim filed with the store's insurance carrier should include your medical bills, medical reports and documentation of any wage loss.  Compensation for the medical bills is straight reimbursement.  Compensation for wage loss is straight reimbursement.  The medical reports will document the nature and extent of your injury and will be used to determine compensation for pain and suffering, which is an amount in addition to the medical bills.  If the case is settled with the store's insurance carrier, NO lawsuit is filed.  If you are dissatisfied with settlement offers from the store's insurance carrier, reject the settlement offers and file a lawsuit for negligence against the store.  You won't be able to recover punitive damages because this is a negligent act by the store, not an intentional act.  If it had been intentional, malicious wrongdoing, then punitive damages would be applicable, but that is not what occurred here.  In your lawsuit for negligence, you can recover the medical bills, pain and suffering and wage loss.  If the case is NOT settled with the store's insurance carrier, you will need to file your lawsuit for negligence against the store prior to the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations or you will lose your rights forever in the matter.


IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.

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