> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Publisher’s Platform: FDA and FSIS – Hey, President Biden, ask your food safety leadership to visit Makayla and Lucas - URL: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2021/03/publishers-platform-fda-and-fsis-hey-president-biden-ask-your-food-safety-leadership-to-visit-makayla-and-lucas/ - Published: 2021-03-22T21:48:15.000Z - Updated: 2021-03-23T19:16:50.000Z - Author: Bill Marler - Tags: Opinion & Contributed Articles, FDA, FSIS, Jarboe, Marler, Parker, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-11-25 08:33 I am speaking (virtually) at the Food and Drug Law Institute (FDLI) Conference this week: **[https://www.fdli.org/2021/03/2021-food-and-dietary-supplement-safety-and-regulation-conference-agenda/](https://www.fdli.org/2021/03/2021-food-and-dietary-supplement-safety-and-regulation-conference-agenda/?ref=foodsafetynews.com).** My guess is that there will be a few FDA and FSIS people in attendance. ![](https://www.marlerblog.com/files/2021/03/Screen-Shot-2021-03-21-at-9.18.55-PM.png) My role is to bring some reality about why it is a bad idea to poison your customers and what the FDA and FSIS leadership should be doing about it. ![](https://www.marlerblog.com/files/2021/03/Screen-Shot-2021-03-15-at-2.08.31-PM.png) Exposure to Romaine: 4/11/18 (7 years old) Days in hospital: 39 (4/18/18 through 5/26/18) Diagnoses: • E. coli O157:H7 Shiga toxin (STEC E coli) • Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) • Acute renal failure requiring prolonged hemodialysis (1 month of dialysis inpatient, and 1 month of outpatient intermittent dialysis) • Acute respiratory failure requiring chest tube, intubation and mechanical ventilation • Ventilator acquired pneumonia • Severe hemolytic anemia from HUS requiring multiple blood transfusions • Pancreatitis • Feeding difficulties requiring prolonged use of nasogastric feeding tube • Chronic hypertension and proteinuria related to HUS, requiring medication Prognosis: • Chronic kidney stage 3, with hypertension and proteinuria; damage from HUS, will likely require greater than one kidney transplant over her lifetime • Chronic gastrointestinal difficulties secondary to pancreatitis and prolonged need for feeding tube •Cognitive deficits related to prolonged intensive care stay and residual effects from HUS encephalopathy – learning disabilities and need for close follow-up of cognitive function • Females requiring kidney transplantation are at high risk if they become pregnant – Mikayla will not likely ever be able to bear her own children • Multiple blood transfusions cause problems with kidney matching for transplantation, may risk waiting for transplant and increased risk for death from kidney failure • After transplantation, Mikayla will require immunosuppressant drugs for her lifetime, placing her at high risk for acquiring infectious diseases as well as cancer Here is a link to all she and her family went through and will go through forever: **[JARBOE Makayla](https://www.marlerblog.com/files/2021/03/JARBOE-Makayla.pdf?ref=foodsafetynews.com)** ![](https://www.marlerblog.com/files/2021/03/Screen-Shot-2021-03-15-at-2.08.54-PM.png) Exposure to Romaine: 10/11/18 (2 years old) Days in hospital: 51 (10/21/18 through 12/11/18) Days in rehab: 80 (12/11/18 through 3/1/19) Diagnoses: • E. coli O157:H7 Shiga toxin (STEC E coli) • Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) • Acute renal failure requiring dialysis • Acute hemolytic anemia from HUS causing multiple blood transfusions • Acute respiratory failure requiring intubation and mechanical ventilation • Severe neurologic damage (severe encephalopathy, brain damage, seizures, multiple episodes of brain hemorrhage, loss of cognitive function, non-verbal) • Insulin dependent diabetes related to steroids to treat brain swelling • Chronic hypertension related to HUS Prognosis: • Permanent brain damage (no hope to regain significant cognitive function) • Damage to visual cortex (permanent damage to sight) • Unable to feed self (permanent tube feeding via G-tube) • Dystonia of extremities (severe contractures, severe pain) • Quadriplegia (severe dystonia), wheelchair bound • Chronic kidney stage 3, damage from HUS, likely transplant candidate if survives >10 years • Requires 24-hour, 100% assistance for all activities of daily living – risk of aspiration and death at all times Here is a link to all he and his family went through and will go through forever: **[PARKER Lucas](https://www.marlerblog.com/files/2021/03/PARKER-Lucas.pdf?ref=foodsafetynews.com)** See also: And, full CBC coverage: **[https://www.cbc.ca/news/marketplace/marketplace-lettuce-contamination-1.5952161](https://www.cbc.ca/news/marketplace/marketplace-lettuce-contamination-1.5952161?ref=foodsafetynews.com)** Hey, President Biden, ask your food safety leadership to visit Makayla and Lucas, and perhaps a congress menber or senator? I wonder if people with decision-making authority sat with these families for a bit, if we would have fewer foodborne illness outbreaks.