December 15, 2004
Contact: Suzanne Schreck
206-346-1888
PITTSBURGH—Marler Clark and Meyers, Kenrick & Giuffre filed two lawsuits against Chi-Chi’s on Wednesday on behalf of hepatitis A infection victims Angelo Palitti, of Alquippa, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and Bennie Martino, of Monaca, Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Both lawsuits allege that the plaintiffs contracted hepatitis A after eating at the Beaver Valley Mall Chi-Chi’s restaurant in October, 2003. The lawsuits were filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania (Civil Action Numbers 04-1878 and 04-1877).
Mr. Palitti, a recent kidney transplant survivor, was forced to reduce the number of anti-rejection medications he was taking at the time he was diagnosed with hepatitis A. He was hospitalized five times because doctors feared he would develop complications related to his hepatitis A infection, and needed frequent monitoring of kidney function due to the lessening of dosage of his anti-rejection medications.
Mr. Martino, who was healthy before his hepatitis A infection, was hospitalized for ten days for dehydration and kidney failure secondary to his hepatitis A infection. He was constantly monitored for the need for a liver transplant, and was considered immuno-suppressed after his hepatitis A infection and subsequent renal failure. Several months after the acute phase of his hepatitis A infection, Mr. Martino suffered a Streptococcus Pneumoniae infection that doctors attributed to his hepatitis.
Continue reading Two lawsuits filed against Chi-Chi’s on behalf of hepatitis A outbreak victims on the Marler Clark website.