A 35-year-old Windward Oahu man says he was hospitalized for four months last year and has so far racked up more than
$1.6 million in medical bills after contracting hepatitis A from tainted scallops he ate at the Genki Sushi restaurant in Kaneohe.
Zachary Kuhlmann is suing Genki Sushi, scallop supplier Sea Port Products Corp. and distributor Koha Foods in state court. Kuhlmann’s is the seventh lawsuit filed against the three defendants. All of the lawsuits over the tainted scallops will be heard by one judge. The defendants previously asked the court that lawsuits against them be consolidated after they were identified by the state Department of Health as the source of the outbreak.
The plaintiffs in the previous lawsuits claim damages either for brief periods of illness after contracting hepatitis A, getting exposed to the virus that causes the disease or for having to take steps to avoid infection. Kuhlmann is the first to claim an extended period of illness and to state how much in medical bills he has incurred.
Kuhlmann says in his lawsuit that he ate food containing the tainted scallops in early June.
A month later he went to the emergency room at Castle Medical Center after experiencing fever and other symptoms for several days. The medical staff diagnosed him with acute hepatitis A and admitted him to the hospital. After his liver function continued to deteriorate, Kuhlmann said, he was transferred to The Queen’s Medical Center to receive a higher level of care.
While at Queen’s, Kuhlmann says, he became critically ill and battled liver, heart and respiratory failure, and a multitude of other life-threatening conditions. He remained at Queen’s until Nov. 9, when he was transferred to the Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific, where he remained until Nov. 23.
Kuhlmann says he continues to receive outpatient care and is unable to return to work as a welder. He says his medical bills to date total $1,627,009.
Attorneys for Genki Sushi could not be reached after hours for comment.
The state Health Department says it has confirmed 292 cases of hepatitis A infection from last year’s outbreak associated with tainted scallops.
