HOUSTON – The first lawsuit has been filed stemming from the massive Blue Bell recall. An ex-Houston resident who says he contracted listeria-related meningitis after eating Blue Bell ice cream has sued the company.
Blue Bell in April recalled its ice cream and halted production after a series of listeria illnesses linked to the treats.
David Shockley, 31, lived in Houston and was employed as the executive director of nursing at a continuing care retirement community, Eagle's Trace. His bosses purchased Blue Bell and he ate the items at work.
The lawsuit says Shockley in October 2013 was hospitalized for respiratory failure and septic shock. Shockley says while at work, he consumed the individual serving cups that the CDC says led to the deaths of three Kansas hospital patients.
Shockley claims he was vulnerable to listeria because he already had colitis and after consuming the products, he developed a severe migraine. The pain was so severe that Shockley called an ambulance and remained hospitalized on life support for five days. Doctors diagnosed him with listeria meningitis with encephalitis.
Minneapolis-based attorney Fred Pritzker is representing Shockley.
"Phil almost died. He was in critical condition. He was in a coma for a long period of time," Pritzker told KPRC2. "As a result of this, he has brain atrophy, literally shrinking of the brain because of the bacterial meningitis. He's also lost a significant portion of his speaking ability, balance problems, basically everything that can be affected by brain illness of this sort has happened to Phil."
Pritzker said Shockley's case is not one of the ten that have been linked by the CDC to Blue Bell products, but said he can prove Shockley was sickened from eating the ice cream products.
"It doesn't really make much difference, because epidemiologically and microbiologically, there's such a strong linkage here," Pritzker said.
Shockley survived but had to move home to live with his parents in Maryland because he needs round-the-clock care.
The lawsuit states Shockley was unable to walk, talk, swallow or move much of his body.
Blue Bell released a statement Wednesday that read, "We are aware of the lawsuit that has been filed, and we take all such matters very seriously. That said, we hope people will understand that because this situation involves litigation, we are not able to discuss any details of the matter."
Shockley's medical bills have amounted to more than $400,000. His attorneys say he will lose $185,000 in wages since he can no longer work.
Eagle's Trace released a statement Wednesday that read, "Mr. Shockley was a respected and valued member of our team at Eagle's Trace. However, Eagle's Trace is not named as a party in this lawsuit and cannot comment on the suit. There have been no reports to us of any other cases initiated by anyone connected to our campus related to Blue Bell products. As the safety and well-being of our residents and employees is our top priority, Eagle's Trace immediately removed all Blue Bell products from our campus inventory when news of potential issues with the product began to surface earlier this year."