JACKSONVILLE Food poisoning injury lawyer

Every year, thousands of people become victim to food poisoning. Despite laws intended to protect us from food poisoning outbreaks, contaminated or poorly prepared food continues causes some 325,000 hospitalizations and over 5,000 deaths each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The law allows victims of food poisoning to hold the negligent farmers, preparers, restaurants, sellers or servers of food responsible for the results of an outbreak, whether due to Salmonella, Listeria, botulism, E. coli, or other bacteria or virus.

It may be necessary to have the illness confirmed as food poisoning by a health authority, such as a hospital or public health clinic. Cases turn on the precise, immediate diagnosis otherwise sellers blame other conditions, foods consumed, medication or health conditions. There are laboratory markers for many types of food poisoning, and it is helpful if such a marker has confirmed the type of bacteria or pathogen of your specific cause of food poisoning. Other times, simple documentation of the symptoms of food poisoning by a physician may be enough. Regardless, the source itself must be identified.

In addition to speaking to us, you can contact the proper authorities by phoning your local county health department or filing an Online Food and Waterborne Illness Complaint. The Department of Health is responsible for investigation and control of food-borne illness outbreaks associated with all food establishments and we work closely with them to get you justice.

Get to a doctor and document your injuries. Not only does being proactive help your health, but insurance carriers and their lawyers always look to use evidence against you- how long you took to get to a doctor, what you complained about or didn’t complain about and they will comb through your records in painful detail. Go to the doctor, be honest and detailed.

Fill out any available accident reports and police reports. Ask for a copy. Then, call your insurance carrier and make a claim. Be careful what you say. All too often, injury victims will say they are “fine” or “not that bad” or otherwise be polite and that will haunt then if their injuries take a turn for the worse. The ER will only really tell you if you have broken bones or major issues, but go and be honest. Hospital emergency rooms tend to leave the bulging discs, herniated discs, shoulder tears and the like to later treating doctors.

Many of our clients are hurting, struggling and hoping they get better, but aren’t. You get one shot at recovery. Lawyers must make sure the insurance companies are acting fairly. John worked for eight years defending these claims for these companies and big businesses and could write a book about ways they use your desire to be fair and reasonable against you. He now solely works for injury victims like you.

While all lawyers are allowed to advertise and anyone can basically handle a personal injury case, only Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyers are allowed to identify themselves as an “expert” or as “specialist” in this area. Certification is the highest level of recognition by The Florida Bar of the competency and experience of attorneys in the area by the Supreme Court of Florida. It also means the lawyer is known for trials- pushing beyond low offers by defendants, passed a peer review and passed a tough exam. Most cases do not get that far, but it is good to have a lawyer with all of the tools in their arsenal.

Insurance carriers try to negotiate every dollar they can, because every $100 means millions in the end to their Board of Directors. Attorneys matter. Defendants and their carriers change their game plan when an experienced lawyer is involved. For that reason – and the misinformation by TV lawyers and referral services- is why people should select lawyers carefully. Also, make sure it is the lawyer who shows up to meet with you and not a mere investigator. You are haring a lawyer and deserve their time. Also, ask for sample closing costs. Some lawyers charge for faxes, phone calls, scanning, postage, “in house courier” charges and even interest in these charges.

Because of the economy, more lawyers are jumping into personal injury and should stick to what they know. Personal injury law requires knowledge about medical science and biomechanics (the forces on a body in a wreck or a fall) far greater and more specific than you’d think. The other side has doctors and millions on their side to say nothing is wrong or fight the claim.