U.S. District Court for the District of Montana
The Estate of Jerome Onsager v. Frontera Produce, Primus Labs and Walmart Stores
In a lawsuit to be filed in August of 2013, Bette Onsager alleges that her husband, Jerome Onsager, consumed a portion of at least one Jensen Farms cantaloupe purchased from a Walmart store in Bozeman, Montana in August of 2013.
Mr. Onsager, who was 75 years old, began experiencing symptoms of Listeria infection in the first week of September, 2011. On September 6, he fell, became disoriented and had trouble functioning. His wife summoned help from neighbors and took him to the emergency department, where he was admitted for treatment of a Listeria infection.
Despite months of medical treatment at various medical centers, Mr. Onsager died on January 21, 2012. The cost of treatment related to his listeriosis exceeded $675,000.
It was not until June of 2012 that Mr. Onsager’s family was notified that his illness had been linked to the Jensen Farms outbreak. Analysis of Listeria bacteria from a cut cantaloupe collected form the home of another outbreak victim revealed that not four, but five strains of Listeria monocytogenes bacteria had caused the Jensen Farms outbreak. Mr. Onsager was infected the fifth strain of Listeria monocytogenes associated with the Jensen Farms cantaloupe outbreak.