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Irregular News for 03.10.06
Chicago, IL -- Tamara Podjasek was having a nice dinner with some friends at the Blue Agave, a Mexican restaurant on the Gold Coast. Then she ate the ceviche.
The appetizer -- typically raw fish marinated in citrus juice -- tasted fine to her and her friends.
But Podjasek, 34, says she became violently ill after that dinner in August and is now suing the restaurant for negligence.
The Downers Grove mother of two is still seeing doctors, has incurred more than $100,000 in medical bills and "can't even keep down water," her attorney, G. Grant Dixon, said.
"It's clear this woman got bad fish," Dixon said.
The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, doesn't specifically put the blame on the ceviche, but Dixon said Podjasek and her tablemates all ate the dish and got sick, though her friends were fine after a few days.
The restaurant at 1050 N. State currently uses tilapia in its ceviche, but it is not known if that was the same type of fish Podjasek ate.
The morning after the dinner, Podjasek was "violently ill" with symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where a stool sample was taken that confirmed a pathogen, Dixon said. A likely pathogen linked to seafood-related foodborne illness would be in the Vibria family of bacteria, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Since then, Dixon said his client has lost 30 pounds and has had problems with her gallbladder and liver.
"Essentially, it put her system into a complete tailspin," Dixon said. "Her body reacts to anything that comes through it."
The restaurant did not return a call for comment.
Foodborne illnesses are caused by a variety of bacteria, viruses and parasites, most of which can be killed with heat or by natural toxins in food, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Raw animal products should be a red flag for consumers, food safety experts say.
"There's a much higher potential for foodborne illness because the organisms that live on them or in them are very happy to live in us," said Susan Brewer, a food science professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Though most symptoms of foodborne illness show up and are over with pretty quickly, Brewer said there are some illnesses that can cause "extended and chronic irritation of the GI tract," though there is typically an underlying genetic component to that.
Podjasek's ongoing health problems could mean she "had an underlying condition she didn't know about, and this bumped it over the edge," Brewer said.
source
Chicago, IL -- Tamara Podjasek was having a nice dinner with some friends at the Blue Agave, a Mexican restaurant on the Gold Coast. Then she ate the ceviche.
The appetizer -- typically raw fish marinated in citrus juice -- tasted fine to her and her friends.
But Podjasek, 34, says she became violently ill after that dinner in August and is now suing the restaurant for negligence.
The Downers Grove mother of two is still seeing doctors, has incurred more than $100,000 in medical bills and "can't even keep down water," her attorney, G. Grant Dixon, said.
"It's clear this woman got bad fish," Dixon said.
The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, doesn't specifically put the blame on the ceviche, but Dixon said Podjasek and her tablemates all ate the dish and got sick, though her friends were fine after a few days.
The restaurant at 1050 N. State currently uses tilapia in its ceviche, but it is not known if that was the same type of fish Podjasek ate.
The morning after the dinner, Podjasek was "violently ill" with symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where a stool sample was taken that confirmed a pathogen, Dixon said. A likely pathogen linked to seafood-related foodborne illness would be in the Vibria family of bacteria, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Since then, Dixon said his client has lost 30 pounds and has had problems with her gallbladder and liver.
"Essentially, it put her system into a complete tailspin," Dixon said. "Her body reacts to anything that comes through it."
The restaurant did not return a call for comment.
Foodborne illnesses are caused by a variety of bacteria, viruses and parasites, most of which can be killed with heat or by natural toxins in food, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Raw animal products should be a red flag for consumers, food safety experts say.
"There's a much higher potential for foodborne illness because the organisms that live on them or in them are very happy to live in us," said Susan Brewer, a food science professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Though most symptoms of foodborne illness show up and are over with pretty quickly, Brewer said there are some illnesses that can cause "extended and chronic irritation of the GI tract," though there is typically an underlying genetic component to that.
Podjasek's ongoing health problems could mean she "had an underlying condition she didn't know about, and this bumped it over the edge," Brewer said.
source
