Chi-Chi’s Hepatitis A Outbreak Lawsuits - Pennsylvania (2003)
In late October of 2003, Pennsylvania health officials learned of a potential hepatitis A outbreak from emergency room doctors treating patients in Beaver County. The Beaver County Health Department (BCHD) and Pennsylvania Department of Health (PDOH) began investigating the apparent outbreak, and learned through interviews that all case patients had eaten at the Chi Chi’s restaurant at the Beaver Valley Mall in the weeks before becoming ill.
On November 3, PDOH issued a hepatitis A advisory, encouraging anyone who had eaten at the Beaver Valley Mall Chi-Chi’s restaurant within the past 14 days to receive an Immune globulin (Ig) shot to prevent becoming ill with the hepatitis A virus. Ig is only effective in preventing infection with hepatitis A if it is administered within 14 days of exposure to the virus. PDOH scheduled Ig immunization clinics at several locations over the following days.
By November 7, PDOH had identified 130 people who had contracted hepatitis A as part of the outbreak. The number had grown to 240 cases by November 11, and kept climing. By November 14, three people had died due to liver failure caused by hepatitis A, and the number of ill people had risen to 500.
PDOH, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), conducted an epidemiological study of the outbreak, and determined that green onions imported from Mexico were the source of the outbreak. The FDA issued a statement dated December 9, 2003, affirming that this outbreak was associated with eating raw or undercooked green onions.
Ultimately, over 650 confirmed cases of hepatitis A, both primary and secondary, were linked to consumption of green onions at the Beaver Valley Mall Chi-Chi’s. The victims included at least 13 employees of the restaurant, and numerous residents of six other states. Four people died as a consequence of their hepatitis A illness. In addition, more than 9,000 people who had eaten at the restaurant during the period of potential exposure, or who had been exposed to ill Chi-Chi’s customers, obtained immune globulin shots to prevent hepatitis A infection.
Chi-Chi’s had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware prior to the outbreak of illnesses; however, an Order issued by the Bankruptcy Court on February 17, 2004, allowed claimants to attempt to mediate and settle their claims against Chi-Chi’s despite the company’s bankruptcy status.
Marler Clark successfully resolved the individual claims of 78 victims of the hepatitis A outbreak linked to the Beaver Valley Mall Chi-Chi's restaurant, including a $6.25 million settlement on behalf of a man whose liver failed and who was forced to receive a liver transplant.
In addition to the 78 individual claims, Marler Clark filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of all people who obtained immune globulin shots for immunization during the outbreak. An $800,000 settlement fund was distributed amongst the 4,991 claimants who had returned completed claim forms by the October 24, 2005 deadline.
Additional Case News
- State confirms secondary of hepatitis A cases connected to Chi-Chi's
- Chi-Chi's checks to arrive soon
- Court OKs payments for those given shots after hepatitis outbreak
- Hepatitis victim settles Chi-Chi's suit
- Class-action notices to be mailed in Chi-Chi's outbreak
- Chi-Chi's to settle lawsuit
- Chi-Chi's to Pay $800K for Hepatitis Shots
- Hepatitis still hurts
- Outback Steakhouse closes on acquisition of Chi-Chi's restaurants
- Tristate company sued by Chi-Chi's
- Men suing Chi-Chi's for 'hepatitis soup'
- Clues, but no smoking gun
- Officials fear Hepatitis A spread
- U.S., Mexico at odds over where onion probe's going
- U.S. reports problems at 4 onion companies
- Officials: No Link to Hepatitis, Onions
- FDA Update on Recent Hepatitis A Outbreaks Associated With Green Onions From Mexico
- Between the Lines
- Green onions remain in the hot seat -- Four U.S. firms named in lawsuit
- Importing health hazards
- Investigators say viral link may never be found
- One of 4 firms linked to U.S. hepatitis outbreak violated hygiene standards
- Hepatitis cases rise to 635 in Beaver County
- Mexican official says FDA rushed to judgment
- Hepatitis backlash hits mostly local, Mexican restaurants
- Mexican governor: inspectors found no hepatitis in Baja California
- Castellini named in hepatitis suit
- U.S. Inspectors checking onion farms in Mexico
- Water key suspect in hepatitis A outbreak
- How going out for 'decent meal' led to transplant for Beaver man
- Hep Patient's Lawsuit Names U.S. Onion Suppliers
- Chi-Chi's becomes tougher sell
- Produce problems make FDA look weak
- Hepatitis was the furthest thing from their minds
- Transplant teams take things one day at a time
- No slowdown, no changes at border
- From the fields of Mexico to Western Pennsylvania
- Long, anxious wait follows post-wedding family dinner
- A polite but firm guardian
- She stays fit, keeps eye on outbreak
- 'Smoking gun' in outbreak will be hard to find
- In Mexico's onion fields, the work goes on
- Hepatitis waning, but costs continue to climb
- Grower fears devastation unless source of virus found
- County cuts price of immunization shots for hepatitis A
- Hepatitis outbreak: Viruses can slip across Mexican border
- Mexico closes 4 green onion exporters
- Mexico closes four onion export companies as a precaution after U.S. hepatitis outbreak
- Report: Outbreaks, Georgia And N.C. Hepatitis A Strains Linked
- Hepatitis outbreak a sobering reminder of vulnerability
- Chi-Chi's litigation hinges on company's insurance
- Food-Borne Illness From Produce on the Rise
- Chi-Chi's Exec Calls Restaurants Safe
- FDA stops green onions from 3 Mexican suppliers
- Onions Blamed For Deadly Virus
- Toll of hepatitis A outbreak climbing
- Dirty Rotten Scallions
- Hepatitis outbreak in Beaver County running out of gas
- Hepatitis A Cases Up to 540
- Hepatitis A outbreak tied to imported food
- U.S. Bars Mexican Onions Due to Hepatitis a Outbreak
- Investigation lets Chi-Chi's staff off hook
- Hepatitis news affecting Beaver County residents in different ways
- Hepatitis cause eludes officials
- Community Is Reeling From Hepatitis Outbreak
- Hepatitis probe following pattern
- Second death in hepatitis outbreak
- Pa. Hepatitis A Outbreak Kills 3rd Victim
- Beaver County hepatitis probe changes focus
- 240 cases of hepatitis listed in Beaver
- How hepatitis A was spread remains a mystery in Beaver County
- Hepatitis outbreak reaches 300 cases
- Hepatitis outbreak claims first fatality
- Hepatitis outbreak in Beaver County reaches 130
- Thousands at risk of hepatitis A
- PA Health Department Issues Hepatitis A Advisory For Patrons of Beaver Co. Restaurant