The Legal Implications of Secondary Infections
When contaminated food is placed into the stream of commerce, it is not only those who consume the food who will become injured. For every serving of lettuce or ground...
Contributing Writers
Dave Babcock
Marler Clark LLPSeattle, Washington
—http://www.marlerclark.com/lawyers/view/david-babcock
—dbabcock@marlerclark.com
Dave Babcock graduated cum laude from the University of Massachusetts in 1991 and received his Juris Doctor from the University of Washington Law School, graduating with Honors in 1997. Since joining Marler Clark in 2001, Dave's practice has focused on multiple party complex litigation, most commonly related to food-borne illness outbreaks. He has written several articles about food-borne illnesses and food-borne illness litigation for such publications as The Journal of Environmental Health and Trial Magazine.
Articles Written by Dave Babcock
Let Grilling Season Begin!
Memorial Day will soon be here. Where I grew up, this meant greeting the sunshine and warm weather with the first barbecue of the season. Here in Seattle, we still...
Keeping School Lunches Safe and Healthful
A senate panel last week unanimously approved the "Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010," clearing it for a final vote. The legislation is a re-vamping of the Child Nutrition Act,...
National Kidney Month Kicks Off
The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), which makes up part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has issued a press release recognizing World Kidney...
'Traceability' Not Just a Good Idea, It's the Law
With the U.S. Congress back in session, there is hope that work on food safety legislation will soon pick up steam. One of the issues that will be part of...
Animal Exhibitors Should Heed CDC Guidelines
It's time to add another entry on the list of outbreaks of bacterial pathogens linked to petting zoos and animal exhibits. The Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment...
Problems With School Food Suppliers Not New
USA Today recently reported on the remarkable story of repeated outbreaks of illness in school children associated with Del Rey flour tortillas. Despite repeated problems, neither the company nor health...
High Fructose Corn Syrup - 'Natural' or Not?
So, let's say I was making you dinner, and in preparing one of the ingredients was "fixed to a column by the use of a synthetic fixing agent, glutaraldehyde." Even...
Putting the Spotlight on Healthcare Food Service
I know you already knew this, but it's National Healthcare Foodservice Workers Week. All sarcasm aside, the importance of safe food handling practices for healthcare workers is likely underrated. While...
Food Safety in the Fall
Fresh off the first weekend of the return of college football, and with kids heading back to school, the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) has two useful press releases to...
Tracing Mad Cow Makes Litigation Unlikely
Drew Falkenstein and I co-authored "Tracing Mad Cow Makes Litigation Unlikely," an article on litigation resulting from bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow) contamination for the March 2006 edition of the...
Recouping the Costs of Outbreak Investigations and
"Recouping the Costs of Outbreak Investigations and Prevention," an article on whether Environmental Health Agencies and Health Departments should seek reimbursement for costs involved in outbreak investigations and prevention...
The Use of Public Health Documents in Foodborne-Il
"The Use of Public Health Documents in Foodborne-Illness Litigation" appeared in the September, 2006 issue of the Journal of Environmental Health. How public health documents are used in foodborne illness...
It's Not Just Montezuma's Revenge Anymore . . .
"It's Not Just Montezuma's Revenge Anymore . . ." was published in the November, 2007 issue of the Journal of Environmental Health. The article begins, "Last night you attended a...