Salmonella-Contaminated Peanut Butter Death
The family of 78-year-old Clifford Tousignant of Minneapolis has filed a lawsuit against an Ohio company in connection with his death from a salmonella-contaminated peanut butter. According to an Associated Press news report, Tousignant's family has filed the lawsuit against Kanan Enterprises, owner of King Nut peanut butter brand, in the U.S. District Court in Minnesota.
According to the complaint Tousignant ate the defective King Nut peanut butter while in a nursing home in December. He apparently tested positive for a salmonella infection a short time later and died on January 12, 2009. Hundreds of people have been sickened across the country as a result of this salmonella outbreak involving King Nut peanut butter.
The company supplied the product wholesale to a number of hospitals, nursing homes, universities and schools across the country. Senior company officials at the Peanut Corporation of America are facing a criminal investigation after federal officials found that the salmonella-contaminated peanut butter was shipped out even after they knew that it was contaminated. The food-borne illness outbreak is believed to have contributed to at least nine fatalities around the country.
I hope this Minnesota family gets the justice and compensation they rightfully deserve in this case. It was no doubt criminal on PCA's part to distribute this contaminated peanut butter to organizations such as nursing homes and hospitals where it was fed to those who were already suffering from other illnesses or were in a physically vulnerable state. The company and the top officials who made these unethical decisions must be held accountable for their actions. Where negligence or wrongdoing is involved, families of deceased victims are entitled to wrongful death claims, which compensate these families for medical/funeral expenses, loss of income, pain and suffering and related costs.
