Primula cheese recall

Sazzy23

Hi all and happy new year! A bit of a random one but hoping you knowledgable bunch can help please! I’m sending this on behalf of a friend, who had some primula cheese recalled which unfortunately she’d already eaten (the cheese contained  Clostridium botulinum and she has been very poorly). She is wanting to investigate suing Primula due to the health issues she’s suffered and continues to suffer, but she’s been told she may struggle to get legal representation due to it being 3 years since the recall. Can anyone please advise, or point me in the direction of where she can seek support please? Many thanks! 

km1500

for me the best way would be one of these no win no fee lawyers who will take a large chunk of any award but at least not charge you if the suit fails

one advantage of using this way would be the lawyers would only take on the case if they thought there was a reasonable chance of success

sheramber

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/law-and-courts/personal-injuries/#:~:text=Time limits,-There are different&text=This means that court proceedings,the circumstances of the case.

pinkshoes

Sazzy23 said:

Hi all and happy new year! A bit of a random one but hoping you knowledgable bunch can help please! I’m sending this on behalf of a friend, who had some primula cheese recalled which unfortunately she’d already eaten (the cheese contained  Clostridium botulinum and she has been very poorly). She is wanting to investigate suing Primula due to the health issues she’s suffered and continues to suffer, but she’s been told she may struggle to get legal representation due to it being 3 years since the recall. Can anyone please advise, or point me in the direction of where she can seek support please? Many thanks! 

If she has decent evidence from 3.5 years ago (It was June 2020 they recalled it) then it might be worth speaking to a no win no fee lawyer.

She'll need the evidence (cheese packaging and receipt showing it was one from the specific small batch that was affected), medical documentation from when she first visited the doctor through to documentation proving ongoing problems today, and at some people will need to prove beyond reasonable doubt that it was the cheese that caused this on-going problem and not any other medical condition or reasoning e.g. long covid.

If she has reasonable medical documentation and evidence then this is a good starting point. 

I take it she has already ascertained that the cheese she at was from the faulty batch and has proven this with the batch number on the box/tube?

EDIT: they recalled lots of tubes of it, but only a small number of those tubes might have been affected.

ArbitraryRandom

Assuming it's not been MORE than three years, I would recommend she contact the FSA - as they will have done the majority of the work putting her case together

There's only been about a dozen cases of botulinum poisoning the UK in the last 30 years and the FCA investigate all reports (Mandatory reporting by hospitals) to identify the source, so they should have your friend's medical records and any evidence showing the similarity of the DNA in her toxin to that in the recalled products...  

Once you have that, any solicitor you find (I recommend going via the law society) would be able to give you a sensible overview of the strength of your case and the type of settlement you might expect. 

Alderbank

pinkshoes said:

Sazzy23 said:

Hi all and happy new year! A bit of a random one but hoping you knowledgable bunch can help please! I’m sending this on behalf of a friend, who had some primula cheese recalled which unfortunately she’d already eaten (the cheese contained  Clostridium botulinum and she has been very poorly). She is wanting to investigate suing Primula due to the health issues she’s suffered and continues to suffer, but she’s been told she may struggle to get legal representation due to it being 3 years since the recall. Can anyone please advise, or point me in the direction of where she can seek support please? Many thanks! 

She'll need the evidence (cheese packaging and receipt showing it was one from the specific small batch that was affected), medical documentation from when she first visited the doctor through to documentation proving ongoing problems today, and at some people will need to prove beyond reasonable doubt that it was the cheese that caused this on-going problem and not any other medical condition or reasoning e.g. long covid.

No, it's a civil case (though in negligence rather than contract so not consumer rights) so balance of probabilities is enough.

user1977

Sazzy23 said:

she’s been told she may struggle to get legal representation due to it being 3 years since the recall. 

It's not so much getting legal representation, she's simply out of time to raise court action if it's more than 3 years since she became aware of the problem.

I'm sure she can find someone who will accept a fee to confirm to her that she is out of time...

RefluentBeans

Out of interest, why the delay? Normally people are pretty quick on this sort of stuff.

DullGreyGuy

km1500 said:

for me the best way would be one of these no win no fee lawyers who will take a large chunk of any award but at least not charge you if the suit fails

one advantage of using this way would be the lawyers would only take on the case if they thought there was a reasonable chance of success

For personal injuries conditional funding is capped at a 25% success fee unlike other classes of claim where the fee isn't legally capped... 25% isn't inconsequential but not sure I'd call it "large" when compared for what other CFAs charge. 

Sazzy23 said:

Hi all and happy new year! A bit of a random one but hoping you knowledgable bunch can help please! I’m sending this on behalf of a friend, who had some primula cheese recalled which unfortunately she’d already eaten (the cheese contained  Clostridium botulinum and she has been very poorly). She is wanting to investigate suing Primula due to the health issues she’s suffered and continues to suffer, but she’s been told she may struggle to get legal representation due to it being 3 years since the recall. Can anyone please advise, or point me in the direction of where she can seek support please? Many thanks! 

When did she first become ill?
When was the illness first linked to the cheese?

Does she know who she bought the cheese from?