A pair of lawsuits have been filed against McDonald’s following a outbreak of E. coli related to Quarter Pounders, including one by a Nebraska woman who said she went to the emergency room.

Clarissa DeBock, 33, a receptionist at a surgery center in North Platte, Nebraska, said in a lawsuit filed Oct. 24 that she ate a quarter pounder at a local McDonald’s on Sept. 18 and went to the emergency room a week later. She tested positive for E. Coli O157:H7, according to the court filing.

“The cramps were probably the worst part,” DeBock said in an interview with NBC News‘Maggie Vespa. “I still have lingering effects at this point. I could tell something wasn’t bothered by the cramps, just because they were so bad.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Oct. 22 that E. Coli O157:H7 was linked to the outbreak that resulted in 49 hospitalizations and one death. in 10 states.

DeBock told NBC News that she didn’t taste anything abnormal while eating the Quarter Pounder and was thankful she didn’t give her 2-year-old son a bite.

“I don’t know if I have the confidence to eat out for a little while, especially not with my son, just because of how close a call came,” DeBock said. “It’s pretty scary to think about.”

She sued McDonald’s for more than $50,000 in damages for pain and suffering, physical harm and disfigurement, “loss of enjoyment of life,” medical expenses, emotional distress, lost wages and loss of earning capacity, according to the filing.

DeBock’s lawsuit follows an Oct. 23 lawsuit filed by a Colorado man, Eric Stelly, who said he ate a Quarter Pounder at a McDonald’s in Greeley on Oct. 4 and went to the emergency room four days later, according to the court filing.

Stelly said he also tested positive for the E. Coli strain O157:H7 and continues to recover from the effects of food poisoning, according to court documents. He is seeking similar compensation to DeBock.

Stelly and DeBock are both represented by attorney Ron Simon of Ron Simon & Associates, who told NBC News they represent a total of 15 plaintiffs. He has yet to file lawsuits on behalf of the other 13 people.

“We have one of our clients who has been in the hospital for over a week and in this case they went septic and their kidneys got infected,” Simon told Vespa. “And once that happens in a patient, that becomes very, very dangerous and life-threatening.”

McDonald’s USA President Joe Erlinger said TODAY on October 23, 2024 that the company is “very confident that you can go to McDonald’s and enjoy our classics.” He added that the Quarter Pounder has been temporarily taken off the menu in states affected by the outbreak.

“So I want to say to our consumers, you can go to McDonald’s today with confidence,” Erlinger said.

An investigation by McDonald’s found the illnesses may be linked to chopped onions on Quarter Pounders, which were traced to a single supplier, according to a press release.

“All local restaurants have been instructed to remove this product from their supply and we have stopped distribution of all sliced ​​onions in the affected area,” said Cesar Piña, McDonald’s chief supply chain manager for North America. said in the statement.

The US Foods supplier announced on Oct. 23 that Colorado-based Taylor Farms has issued a recall notice for peeled, diced and whole peeled jumbo yellow onions “due to potential E. coli contamination.”

Following the E. coli outbreak, Taco Bell, Burger King, KFC and Pizza Hut hawill haveI will pluck the onion from some of their restaurants because they get a percentage of their onions from Taylor Farms.