In the News 600,000 euros were requested on behalf of the Murcia Head of Emergency Services Sacked parents and 170,000 euros for the maternal After refusing to resign, Pablo Ruiz Palacios, Head grandmother. of the Emergency Services in Murcia, was sacked on September 17th. On the previous Friday, at the Claims from the Listeria Virus Epidemic absolute height of the floods and storms, he had In an article we deal with the continuing events gone to the theatre for two hours in the evening surrounding the severe listeria outbreak that to see an Agatha Christie play. When this became started in Seville in late August. ‘Facua- known he claimed that his conscience was clear Consumidores en Acción’ (Consumers in action) is and he had worked tirelessly during the previous an official Spanish body that deals with consumer days. He stated that the visit to the theatre for complaints. They have announced a “class action” only two hours was a family commitment. He which is when all complaints against one company apologised for his actions but refused to resign or entity are collected together. Facua have lodged as he considered that he was a political scapegoat. a formal complaint with a court in Seville apart Pablo Ruiz is a lawyer and he said that he would from the eventual prosecution by the Public Health return to this work as he didn’t need to have an Safety Authority of the Junta de Andalucía against income from this job anyway! the meat processing factory Magrudis trading as “La Mechá”. Facua have set up a comprehensive committee that will deal with all the customer complaints and assess their severity and consumer rights. They have widened the claim to include actions against the official owner of the company (a son of the man who runs the company but has no day to day involvement) and his father. Facua are accusing them of injury, miscarriages and deaths. Persons affected who required medical assistance or hospitalisation that meant time off from work can register a claim, but for women who miscarried and relatives of people who died, the financial considerations cannot be quantified. It has become known that a pregnant woman in Seville, along with family members, consumed La Mechá “carne mechada at a New Year celebration in 2018. They all became ill but recovered without medical assistance and the woman gave birth at Motorbikes and Scooters the end of January. After five days the baby died According to figures from the traffic department and listeria was given as the cause of death. This in Almería, there are 42,000 motorbikes and very early case has been included in the class action. scooters registered in Almería province. These It now appears that the company in Seville knew are used both for short journeys and longer that there was listeria in their factory last February. journeys in the case of motorbikes, and the most Confirmed cases of persons infected with listeria powerful ones can quite easily exceed the in Spain amount to 215; with 175 in Seville, 17 in 120km/h limit on motorways. The number of Huelva, 12 in Cádiz, 6 in Málaga, 5 in Granada and registered four-wheel vehicles in the province is 1 in Roquetas de Mar. Three Brits contracted listeria 300,000 so there is one motorbike or scooter outside Spain along with a German family. for every seven four-wheel vehicles. Up to the
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