Hepatitis Outbreak Leads to Lawsuit Against McDonald's Restaurant

The parents of a 16-year-old boy who contracted Hepatitis A after eating at a McDonald's restaurant in Milan, Illinois have filed a lawsuit against the franchise owner and the McDonald's corporation.

The parents of Dillon Mrasak claim their son needed to be hospitalized after he ate at a McDonald's restaurant where two of the employees handling food allegedly had Hepatitis A.

The Mrasak's lawsuit is at least the second complaint filed against the restaurant, which claims the management knew the employees were sick but allowed them to work anyway.  Last week a class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of more than 10,000 people who ate at that McDonald's location.

At least 22 people in the area have been diagnosed with Hepatitis A, and nearly 5,000 people were vaccinated for exposure before the restaurant was eventually closed.  The virus can cause a number of serious health problems, including swelling of the liver, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and even death.

Kevin Murphy, the owner of the franchise, maintains that management never knew his employees were infected with the virus, despite reports that suggest both the restaurant and the health department might have known about the infected workers more than a month before the location was eventually shut down.

Trinity Medical Center has also taken some of the responsibility, stating it failed to properly notify the Rock Island Health Department of four known cases of the virus.  Standard protocol calls for the hospital to immediately report a hepatitis outbreak to health authorities so they can respond to the outbreak in a timely and effective manner.

For more information about this topic, please contact a personal injury attorney near you.