A Long Island man died in July after eating listeria-contaminated Boar’s Head liverwurst, and his widow is now suing the company for $20 million.
Robert Hamilton, of Hicksville, ate the allegedly tainted deli meat in early July, according to his wife Kathleen, who filed the wrongful death lawsuit in Brooklyn Federal Court.
Boar’s Head recalled 7 million pounds of products in July after dozens of people fell ill and its liverwurst tested positive for listeria.
On July 10, about a week after eating the cold cuts, Hamilton, 73, “began to feel like he had the flu,” the widow claimed in court papers.
Two days later “his condition had worsened, and he was complaining that he ached all over, had stomach pains, diarrhea and an elevated temperature.”
He was rushed to Nassau University Medical Center, where blood cultures confirmed he was suffering from a listeria infection.
He died six days later on July 18, according to the lawsuit.
The state Health Department confirmed the death was related to the Boar’s Head listeria outbreak, his wife said in the legal filing.
Hamilton is among 10 people to die since the Boar’s Head listeria outbreak, with 59 others in 19 states hospitalized, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The grim scorecard includes two deaths in New York, one in New Jersey, one in Illinois, one in Virginia, one in Florida, one in Tennessee, one in New Mexico and two in South Carolina.
Over the past year, Boar’s Head’s Jarratt, Virginia, plant racked up dozens of violations – including reports of mold, mildew, insects and pools of blood throughout the facility, The Post previously reported. The company is now under investigation by the US Agriculture Department.
The Sarasota, Florida-based company has since closed the Virginia plant, and no longer makes liverwurst.
It is the worst listeria outbreak since 2011, when 147 people fell ill and 33 died after eating contaminated cantaloupe.
Listeria infections are caused by a hardy type of bacteria that can survive and even thrive during refrigeration. An estimated 1,600 people get listeria food poisoning each year and about 260 die, according to the CDC. Infections can be hard to pinpoint because symptoms may occur up to 10 weeks after eating contaminated food.
Neither Boar’s Head, nor the Hamilton family returned messages. Boar’s Head officials have said they “regret and deeply apologize” for contamination in their products.
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