Detroit woman says she ate at Taco Bell and now, she is hospitalized with her days including 30-40 bathroom trips

Taco Bell’s cyclosporiasis-induced woes are set to continue. Barely a week after the company took to its various social media platforms to assure consumers they could still trust its food, a lawsuit has now been filed against it. A Detroit woman who fell ill with cyclosporiasis says she contracted it after eating at the chain and ended up needing 30 to 40 trips to the bathroom every day.

Ella-Salone Jones said her bout with cyclosporiasis first materialized as severe gastrointestinal symptoms that sent her to the hospital. According to The Independent, the outbreak has now caused 4,000 cases, with 300 of them resulting in hospitalizations. Taco Bell locations in Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and West Virginia were found to have served shredded iceberg lettuce linked to the outbreak.

The illness often originates from a parasite that latches onto food after it has been contaminated with feces, either through irrigation water contaminated by sewage or through other means. It has been making headlines for causing explosive diarrhea in victims throughout the country. The situation has also led to greater scrutiny of the Robert F. Kennedy Jr.-led CDC.

Jones is unable to receive standard treatment

Jones said she was one such victim, explaining that the relentless diarrhea throughout each day left her “miserable.” She is now seeking legal action against Taco Bell and Taylor Farms, which is believed to be at the center of the controversy.

She will be represented by Ron Simon, who has handled similar cases throughout the country. So it goes without saying that he has experience with these kinds of cases and has a particular legal strategy he believes could present a compelling case to a jury.

Jones’ situation is uniquely dire because even though she is hospitalized, she is reportedly still unable to receive the standard treatment. Apparently, she has an underlying medical condition that prevents her from taking Bactrim, which is the primary drug used to treat cyclosporiasis.

Simon says her doctors have had to “use less efficient medicines to try to get her cyclospora under control, and so far it has not been successful.” Jones said, “They won’t let me go home because I can’t hold anything,” before adding that “if my kidneys dry up, I can pass.”

Federal health officials had already visited Taylor Farms and initially found that its lettuce tested positive for cyclospora. However, those same officials later walked back that finding. So, as things stand, the situation remains somewhat up in the air—especially for legal cases such as Jones’, which may ultimately depend on the final findings of the investigation.

The attorney remains confident

However, Taco Bell took the initiative and said that, “due to an abundance of caution,” it would remove potentially affected lettuce from its kitchens.

Simon was quick to question the findings of the second round of federal testing, saying, “But this isn’t the lettuce that made everybody sick. That lettuce is long gone. It’s been consumed.” He added, “So they’re testing a bunch of lettuce that has nothing to do with the outbreak.”

Simon remains confident that he can get justice for his clients. He says almost 20% of them have been hospitalized because of the outbreak.