Alabama man incapacitated from Boar’s Head listeria outbreak files federal lawsuit

An Alabama man who contracted a listeria infection that has left him incapacitated and hospitalized for more than a month has filed a federal lawsuit against Boar’s Head, claiming the company’s since-recalled deli meat led to his condition.

Jeffrey Scott Cox, who became ill after consuming Boar’s Head bologna bought at a Publix in Huntsville in late July, “is unable to communicate, and it is currently unclear if he will survive,” the lawsuit states.

As of early August, more than 40 people have been sickened due to the outbreak and three people have died, the Associated Press reported.

Cox, according to the lawsuit filed Monday on his behalf by his mother, Elvira Cox, went to Crestwood Hospital after he had trouble breathing, began exhibiting weakness and one side of his face began to droop.

He eventually needed to be placed on a ventilator, and he was transferred to Huntsville Hospital.

On Aug. 7, Cox tested positive for listeria. For two weeks, he had “a significantly elevated temperature.”

Throughout the course of his hospitalization, the lawsuit states, Cox “has remained incapacitated…”

“He is unable to communicate, and it is currently unclear if he will survive,” according to the suit.

Efforts to reach Boar’s Head were not immediately successful.

According to the company’s timeline of its recall, Boar’s Head began voluntarily recalling its Strassburger Brand Liverwurst product on July 25 after learning it had potentially been contaminated by listeria. Nine other products made on the same line as the liverwurst were also recalled.

Four days later, after tests confirmed that the liverwurst was connected to a listeria outbreak, Boar’s Head expanded the recall to every product made in the same facility as the liverwurst.

“We enacted this broad and precautionary recall totaling seven million pounds because we believed it was the right thing to do,” the company said.

Several varieties of bologna were included in the recall.

Cox’s lawsuit accuses Boar’s Head of violating Alabama’s product liability law along with negligence and breach of implied warranty and merchantability.