PetSmart Sued For Killer Hamster
A woman whose husband died after receiving a liver transplant infected with a rodent virus is suing PetSmart Inc., claiming the chain should have warned customers that hamsters can carry the virus.
The federal lawsuit alleges Thomas Magee, 54, and two other organ recipients died after transplants from a woman who had contracted a virus from a hamster she bought at a PetSmart store in Warwick, R.I.
Bruce Richardson, a spokesman for the Phoenix-based chain, would not comment on the lawsuit Wednesday but said the virus is rare.
“It’s not a common disease in pets. It’s not something that’s tested routinely by us or others,” Richardson said.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court last week, said a pathology report on Magee’s autopsy lists the cause of death as lymphocytic choriomeningitis, a viral infection of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord.
The virus, which is found in house mice, hamsters and other rodents, usually causes only flu-like symptoms in humans, but can be serious and even fatal in people with compromised immune systems.
In May 2005, the Rhode Island Health Department confirmed that three people died after receiving organs that were infected with the rodent virus: Magee, a double-lung recipient from Massachusetts and a kidney transplant recipient from Rhode Island.
In her lawsuit, Nancy Magee says PetSmart had a duty to warn its customers that hamsters could carry the virus and that people with weakened immune systems could die from it.
Magee, who sued on behalf of herself and the couple’s three children, declined to comment when reached at her home. She referred questions to her attorney, Richard Bickelman, who did not return a call Wednesday.
Thomas Magee had a liver transplant at Massachusetts General Hospital on April 10, 2005. The surgery was successful, and doctors told Nancy Magee her husband would be discharged about six days later.
But the hospital postponed Magee’s release after he developed a fever and high blood pressure. On May 5, Nancy Magee was told that her husband had a virus that was causing his fever and that he would need another liver and kidney transplant as a result, according to the lawsuit. Two days later, Thomas Magee died.
(AP)
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the only instructions it came with said to “first shave the rodent before rolling it in cocaine”
April 17th, 2008 at 7:41 amI refuse to have ANYTHING in my house, under the guise of “pet”, that I would normally call an exterminator out to rid my home of …
April 17th, 2008 at 7:45 amNothing’s allowed in my house that can’t wipe its own feet on the mat.
April 17th, 2008 at 7:47 amFricken people and suing. They sell pets, they arent the damn vet. Who they should be suing is whoever is in charge of these organs, they should be testing for stuff like this. Suing a fucking petstore because of a failed implant? give me a break.
April 17th, 2008 at 7:48 amim guessing you wouldnt like my Ferrets then? lol
April 17th, 2008 at 7:49 amTried to post an image, damn, it was perfect for this…
April 17th, 2008 at 7:58 amDidnt hamsters originally come from Syria? thought i read that somewhere
I had these things when i was a kid. kind of cool watching them climb around their little environment i made for them, all the tubes and wheels.
April 17th, 2008 at 7:59 amI have to question, just how would a warning have saved her husband’s life? He did not buy the hamster nor did he have any contact with it. The virus was in the liver he received, which somehow was not discovered in the screening of the donor organs. Even if the sign had been up, the donor would have likely still purchased the hamster and the same would have happened.
If the sign had been up would she be suing the donor’s family since they should not have had an animal that could carry disease if they were going to be donors???
This is just another case of someone chasing the deep pockets of the situation no matter how BS the claim is. I really hope a common sense judge throws this out on its ear.
Sometimes no matter what happens a person is going to die, life is not certain and its crap to go around assigning blame for something as freak as this.
April 17th, 2008 at 9:25 ami knew that eventually they would turn to bio warfare. hamsters are on a revolution watch’em close
April 17th, 2008 at 9:26 am