Lawsuits rising in cyclosporiasis outbreak with more likely coming, experts say

Lawsuits are mounting from Michigan’s largest outbreak of cyclosporiasis, a parasitic illness that causes extreme gastrointestinal issues, as some of those infected seek compensation for what they’ve endured, and at least one legal expert sees hundreds more claims coming down the road.

Fourteen people have filed federal lawsuits against Taco Bell and Taylor Farms connected to the outbreak, which started in late June and has infected more than 12,000 people in Michigan alone. The lawsuits represent plaintiffs from all over Michigan, including a Clinton Township couple and a Warren woman.

Most of the lawsuits seek compensation and contend the fast food chain and California-based Taylor Farms were negligent and should’ve done more to protect customers. The most recent case was filed last week by Dawn Koss, a Melvin, Michigan, resident in Sanilac County who filed a class-action lawsuit.

“Individuals have a reasonable expectation that they should be able to eat commercially produced and publicly available food products without becoming violently ill due to the negligence, gross negligence and deceptive practices of the corporations producing and selling that food,” contended one complaint filed July 23 in federal court in Detroit by seven Michigan plaintiffs against Taylor Farms and Taco Bell.

Attorney William Marler, an attorney who specializes in food safety litigation and who has filed two lawsuits related to the outbreak in Michigan, estimated 50-100 lawsuits will be filed nationwide in the outbreak.

“Size-wise, this is getting to be one of the largest foodborne illness outbreaks in … easily the last 30 years. … You just don’t normally see that this size,” Marler said.

The litigation comes as cases finally appear to be tapering off in Michigan. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, which has reported 12,485 cases of cyclosporiasis since cases were first reported June 22, last week lifted its recommendation to avoid bagged salad mixes during the outbreak.

Marc Lipton, a Southfield-based attorney for seven people from different Michigan communities who are now suing related to the outbreak, said he “would not be surprised” if thousands of cyclosporiasis lawsuits get filed and then consolidated into one centralized federal case.

One federal judge would be responsible for the pre-trial process for all of the federal cases across the country if they are consolidated, he said.

Marler said it’s the largest foodborne illness outbreak since a Salmonella outbreak in 1994 that was linked to ice cream.

When did the outbreak start?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and state public health officials have been investigating the multistate outbreak of cyclosporiasis linked to tainted iceberg lettuce from central Mexico since late June. Fifteen states are now included in the outbreak: Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Kansas, Illinois, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, New Hampshire and North Carolina.

On July 17, Taylor Farms, a global producer of salads and other foods, initiated a recall of all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

And while daily cases peaked July 23 in Michigan, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services late last week said the data now suggest that new cyclosporiasis case reports are slowing, including a downward trend in diarrhea-related emergency department visits.

At least two people in Michigan have died from cyclosporiasis, though state health officials have noted they had underlying health conditions.

More lawsuits being filed

Marler of The Marler Clark Law Firm, a prominent food safety law practice based in Washington state, said he has been retained by over 400 people in the U.S. who got cyclosporiasis this year. He has filed five lawsuits.

Among his clients are a Clinton Township couple who fell sick with cyclosporiasis a few weeks after eating tacos with lettuce at a Taco Bell on June 21.

Marler said he doesn’t need to file lawsuits for all of his clients. He said he often sends demands to the companies responsible for his clients’ illnesses, which can lead them to be compensated without a lawsuit being filed. Marler said the information he learns through the discovery process for one case can be used in other cases.

Lipton, the Southfield-based attorney, soon plans to file another case, including about 30 people.

Lawsuits have been filed in U.S. district courts in other states, and a panel, called the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, will decide which federal judge will be responsible for the pre-trial process for all of the federal cases, he said.

“We’re going to argue that because Michigan has the most victims and is centrally located among all of the states … where the victims are, the case should center in Michigan,” Lipton said.

If a case goes to trial, he said, the trial would take place in the U.S. district where the case belongs.

What attorneys want from the lawsuits

Most of the lawsuits filed against Taco Bell and Taylor Farms follow a similar pattern. The plaintiffs ate at a Taco Bell near them and then, days or even weeks later, in some cases, they became sick with cyclosporiasis symptoms.

In a lawsuit filed July 23, Kimberly Harris of Warren alleged that she ate at a Taco Bell in Warren on June 12. Beginning July 6, she began feeling sick with severe stomach cramping, fatigue, dizziness and diarrhea, according to her lawsuit. She eventually tested positive for cyclosporiasis.

A liver transplant recipient, Harris’s illness prevented her from taking medicine for her transplant for seven days because it would interfere with the antibiotics doctors gave her to take for the Cyclospora.

“Plaintiff had a liver transplant 2008 and as a result of the Cyclospora infection there is a high probability it will increase health issues for her for the rest of he life,” the complaint for Harris contended. “Some of those health (issues) triggered by the Cyclospora infection could cause her to die.”

The most recent lawsuit, filed Aug. 3, Koss from Sanilac County, contends she ate at a Taco Bell on North Main Street in Yale on June 28. A few days later, she began experiencing severe symptoms including explosive diarrhea and fatigue for which she sought medical treatment. She later tested positive for cyclospora.

“Plaintiff was prescribed antibiotics to treat her cyclosporiasis and to date is still experiencing effects from the illness,” the complaint alleges.

Compensation for medical bills, lost wages

For those who’ve been affected and are now suing, Marler said his job is “to be a lawyer” and get his clients compensated for what they went through. That would include medical bills, wage loss and more.

He said he is also very interested in learning “what happened” in a foodborne-illness outbreak and what can be done to prevent the next outbreak from happening.

“That’s another part of … the reason why I file lawsuits and do discovery is because I can force people to testify under oath. I can get documents under oath. I can force people to … be truthful,” Marler said.

Lipton said that in lawsuits involving “this kind of a nationwide injury,” attorneys want “justice” for their clients.

“The people that are hurt want to know how this happened, and we want to know how it happened,” he said.

Less monitoring for food-borne illnesses?

Lipton pointed to reporting in publications like WIRED that said the federal lab that responded to the cyclosporiasis outbreaks shrank from 11 people to three because of federal government layoffs last year by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Cyclospora was one of multiple parasites that were removed from a mandatory reporting list last summer under the Trump administration, USA Today reported in mid-July. Historically, the CDC’s Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, or FoodNet, tracked cases of food poisoning, referring to a number of pathogens that can cause gastrointestinal and other symptoms.

Under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., required monitoring was reduced from eight pathogens to two, and the other six pathogens were made optional, including Cyclospora. Salmonella and STEC remain the two required pathogens for monitoring.

Kennedy told USA Today last week that the surveillance of foodborne illness is working and that federal authorities have been quick to track the outbreaks that occur every summer.

“We have a surveillance system in place, and it’s working better than it’s ever worked in history,” Kennedy said, also rejecting that personnel cuts at the CDC hurt disease surveillance.

But Marler said the U.S. needs to “fix our public health system” instead of dismantling it.

“The cuts to the FDA, both by DOGE, and the cuts to the CDC have been devastating to public health. The cuts to state and local health departments … for their own infrastructure has been also devastating to public health,” he said.

Reporting by Anne Snabes, The Detroit News / USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect.