Food poisoning is a serious illness that results from eating contaminated food. If you get food poisoning, it is important to get prompt medical attention and take action so that a lawyer can protect your rights.

How to Protect Your Rights If You Get Food Poisoning

When you go grocery shopping for produce and meat, you take the time to choose items that look fresh and free of mold, blemishes or insects. Unfortunately, you cannot tell if something has been contaminated by bacteria or a virus. If you get food poisoning from something that you purchased at a grocery store, a personal injury attorney can help you to protect your rights. Taking these action steps could help you to build your case.

Save Your Receipts

In general, it is a good idea to save receipts from your purchases for a few weeks. By retaining the receipts, you can have proof of exactly what you bought. If your grocery store tracks purchases with a loyalty card, this can also help you to prove that you bought the item in question, especially if the manufacturer of the product issues a recall after your purchase.

Keep All Medical Documentation

If you seek medical treatment for food poisoning, keep all of the documents related to your doctor’s visit, laboratory tests and hospital stay. You will need to have proof of your medical diagnosis in order to show that contaminated food made you sick. If you seek damages for your food poisoning illness, having copies of your medical records and your bills will help with putting your case together.

Keep the Leftover Food

Any case of food poisoning should be reported to the local health department so that epidemiologists can conduct an investigation. If possible, keep the leftover food that made you sick. The health department can have the food tested and determine the cause of your illness. This would be definitive proof of what made you sick. If there is no leftover food, do not fret. If you can remember what you ate, the epidemiologists may be able to do a case-control study.