Human blood on food products

[cyjeff]

Originally Posted by ecmst12

She didn't hit any lottery, she had SERIOUS PERMANENT DAMAGE AND DISFIGUREMENT and her award wasn't all that impressive after you consider her massive medical and legal expenses.

I guess you have never seen the "Stella Awards", have you?

[cyjeff]

Originally Posted by wyett717

Agreed. There is no cause to sue because there are no damages, but the situation should be reported anyway, and perhaps some coupons for a free meal would be in order. My concern would be the possibility that blood came in contact with the food, and unfortunately there is no way to find out.

Which is why I made sure to mention that she include the packaging.

Trying to convince a jury what you remember about what happened is difficult in cases such as these.

[OldandTired]

Originally Posted by ecmst12

She didn't hit any lottery, she had SERIOUS PERMANENT DAMAGE AND DISFIGUREMENT and her award wasn't all that impressive after you consider her massive medical and legal expenses.

Most people don't know this. All they know is she was awarded a large settlement. It's the numbers is all the people see, and they still wish they were her.

[lya]

Originally Posted by OldandTired

Most people don't know this. All they know is she was awarded a large settlement. It's the numbers is all the people see, and they still wish they were her.

Most people also don't know that the McDonald's in the lawsuit had been cited more than once for unsafe high temperatures of their coffee and failed to take corrective action, thereby increasing the punitive award for damages. Not only that, the actual award was negotiated downward to an undisclosed amount. If I recall correctly, the reduced amount was made public a few years ago and the lack of big $ did not warrant coverage by our sensationalistic headline news shows.

As for the OP's concerns, I think the ER visit was uncalled-for. Blood-borne pathogens take time to set up home in a new host and don't reveal themselves on tests until such time as they do.

The OP should have called the kids' physician and followed his/her advice instead of rushing to the ED where folks with strokes, heart attacks, and trauma are needed by the staff. I don't think McDonald's should be held accountable for parental lack of knowledge and hysteria.

[quincy]

Ah. Dejá vu.

Two years ago, I discovered blood all over the napkins stuffed in my fastfood bag. I had a student intern research blood-borne pathogens for me - and she located this site. The responses here are very similar to the ones I received (although I believe one of the Senior Members did mention that I should watch for the development of Portugese Anal Worms ).

What you will get from McDonald's is the offer of a free meal or free coupons or a refund for the cost of the meal - however if you are like me, the memory of the blood will make you avoid ALL fastfood restaurants for awhile, free food or not.

I agree with most of the others that there is no lawsuit here worth pursuing, but it was wise to complain to the management of the McDonald's you went to, and Ozark is right that it wouldn't hurt to advise McDonald's corporate of your experience. They may decide to give their employees a refresher course on safe food handling.