Tyson Foods is recalling 8.5 million pounds of ready-to-eat chicken products because they may be contaminated with listeria, according to the USDA Food and Safety Inspection Service (FSIS).

On June 9, 2021, FSIS was notified that two people became ill with listeriosis that had consumed Tyson chicken products.   

Listeria symptoms can cause severe illness when the bacteria spreads to the stomach and other parts of the body.  Listeria can also cause food poisoning symptoms such as diarrhea and fever.  Symptoms of severe illness may start within 1-4 weeks after eating the contaminated food. 

The Center for Disease Control has released these details on the recalled products:

• The products were shipped nationwide to stores and hospitals, nursing facilities, restaurants, schools and Department of Defense locations.
• The products include frozen fully cooked chicken strips, diced chicken, chicken wing sections and fully cooked pizza with chicken.
• Many of the products were sold under brand names including Tyson, Jet Pizza, Casey’s General Store, Marcos Pizza and Little Caesars.
• The products subject to recall have the number EST. P-7089 on the product bag or inside the USDA mark of inspection.

Anyone that has eaten the products and are concerned about illness should contact a health care provider.

If you or a loved one has suffered from food poisoning or illness from Tyson chicken products, please call the experts at Inserra Kelley Sewell to see whether you might be entitled to compensation. 

Today’s surgeons rely more on surgical staplers as an alternative to stitches and sutures due to the increased speed and ease of use provided by the devices. Ethicon and Covidien Surgical Staplers can misfire during a surgery and cause serious injuries.  Thousands of surgery patients have reported serious injuries regarding the surgical staplers during gastrointestinal tract surgeries such as: colon cancer, diverticuli and weight loss surgeries to link sections between body parts such as the intestines and stomach.  Misfiring of the device may lead to incomplete staple lines and malformed staples.

Due to the frequency of the misfires, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a Class 1 recall and reported the following risks associated with the defective staplers: 

• Bleeding
• Tearing of organs and internal tissue
• Development of anastomotic leaks
• Sepsis 
• Increased risk of cancer recurrence
• Multi-organ failure
• Fistula formation 

As a result of these injuries, patients may require additional surgeries, including an ostomy bag (an external pouch to collect body waste).  Many times, patients are forced to return to the operating room for an unplanned, emergency repair surgery.  Other patients may be released from the hospital only to return a few days later once symptoms arise for emergency surgery.

Who are the manufacturers of Covidien and Ethicon Surgical Staplers? Covidien is a subsidiary of Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) which has a market cap of $152 billion.  Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) is a parent company of Ethicon boasting a market cap of $384 billion.

Numerous lawsuits have been filed on behalf of patients hurt by the malfunctioning staplers.  Some of the lawsuits have gone to trial and led to sizable verdicts against the defendants.  The most prominent among them was a California case that ended up with the plaintiff being awarded $80 million, including $70 million in punitive damages against Ethicon.

If you or a loved one has been harmed by defective Ethicon or Covidien Surgical Staplers, please call the Mass Tort Team at Inserra Kelley Sewell to see whether you might be entitled to compensation.