Getting What Is Rightfully Yours

Food Poisoning: Do I Have A Case?

10 February 2016 by Penny Fisher

After you have visited a restaurant, you may feel incredibly sick not too long afterward. You might then suspect that you are feeling ill because you decided to order fish. It tasted fine, but now you're relatively certain that the fish made you sick. When trying to decide whether you should sue the restaurant, you must determine whether the restaurant made you sick and whether the harm that you suffered was great enough to make a lawsuit worthwhile.

Proving That The Restaurant Caused Your Food Poisoning

Proving that the restaurant was responsible for you becoming sick usually requires that you seek the assistance of an attorney. You will need to gather evidence that connects your illness to your meal. If an attorney can uncover that the food was not stored properly or that preparation methods were used that caused you to become ill, this may be used as evidence that the restaurant caused your illness. For instance, you may have actually became sick because of the lettuce that was served with the fish. While the fish was cooked properly, an interviewed wait staff might claim that the raw fish came in contact with the lettuce.

Testing Your Meal

If you saved a portion of the meal, this may be used to determine whether the meal caused food poisoning. It can be tested for the presence of a pathogen that may have caused your food poisoning. However, preserving a portion of the meal isn't required since your doctor, by simply identifying the cause of your illness, can infer whether it is likely that the restaurant caused the illness. Depending on the severity of the food poisoning, it may be necessary to have your stomach pumped and the contents of your stomach can be tested for toxins.

Assessing Damages Caused By The Restaurant

Whether you were hospitalized or not affects the likelihood that you suffered damages that you should be compensated for. Through a lawsuit, you can seek compensation for your hospital bills. Your doctor can also explain the degree of pain and suffering that you experienced. Simply experiencing discomfort or inconvenience is not enough to win a personal injury lawsuit.

Your attorney will look at strict liability laws. These are specific product liability guidelines that automatically determine whether or not your food poisoning deserves compensation. This can simplify the process of pursuing a lawsuit. Therefore, you will want to contact a personal injury attorney first to determine whether you have a case.

For personal injury attorney, contact a law firm such as Vaughan & Vaughan.

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