The Litigated Dish: Trouble in paradise

— OPINION —

Dreaming of white sand beaches, turquoise waters, and all-inclusive luxury? Punta Cana has long been a go-to destination for travelers in search of tropical bliss. But recently, a concerning trend has emerged — one that is putting a serious damper on the dream.

I’ve received credible reports of salmonella poisonings tied to several Hyatt-owned all-inclusive resorts in the region — all located within close proximity to one another. Several of my clients have fallen seriously ill, requiring medical treatment both locally in the Dominican Republic and again after returning home to the United States.

In the United States, salmonella is a reportable disease, which means that when a person tests positive, their treating physician is legally required to notify the local health department. Health officials then conduct interviews with the patients, aiming to trace the source — either epidemiologically based on food history or genetically via whole genome sequencing. My team at Marler Clark, along with several health departments across the United States, is actively investigating a number of these reports.

In the meantime, curiosity got the best of me, and I began combing through online reviews for the various Hyatt-owned resorts. It didn’t take long to see that my clients were not the only ones affected. Here is a sample of the complaints:

• My son was hospitalized 2 days after landing for salmonella poisoning.

• If you value the health of your friends and family, steer clear of this place.
  We were guests in a party of 16 for a destination wedding, and out of that number, 9 of us got sick — diarrhea, fevers, throwing up. We are assuming food poisoning. 2 of those people (1 of them being a 6 year old) got so bad they were transported to the hospital, which cost $2,000. Food safety practices are apparently not in place here. This even extends to the bottled water, half of which had their seals broken and had varying amounts of water inside (as though they were being refilled). 

• My husband contracted salmonella on our second day of vacation. He had to go to the hospital by ambulance and stay there for 3 days. The health care there was terrible. All the patients we saw in the hospital were tourists with the same gastrointestinal symptoms.

• This was such a big deal for our family to go on such a nice vacation. We arrived on a Wednesday and Thursday, I began to feel very sick. I ended up going to the Dominican ER hospital via ambulance on Saturday for a bacterial infection and severe dehydration. I’ve never been so sick! It was traumatic. Several others at the hospital were from Dreams Macao. I was in bed or on the toilet for the 4 of 5 days.

• My man was sick from their food. He had gastroenteritis (diagnosed there, he still is getting checked in the U.S.), had to go to the hospital off site. He was ill 6/7 days & had such an awful time, it ruined our whole family vacation. We’re now at a hospital in the U.S. & we’re getting more tests results done. One of the nurses said their friend just got back from this exact hotel & her entire bridal party had E.coli. Update: He got diagnosed with Hemorrhagic Colitis due to either E. Coli or salmonella. He never drank the water once & wasn’t drinking alcohol.

• We got food poisoning. I have a strong stomach ( I love eating raw seafood and all sorts of unique dishes) and have never been that sick. I ordered a club sandwich from room service at around 9:30 PM Thursday night it was definitely contaminated with something. I got no sleep as I was going to the bathroom all night. My wife was hospitalized for 3 days — the hospital tests came back positive for salmonella. My son also got diarrhea that lasted almost a week.

• Got extremely sick here still dealing with it over a week later. and I was not the only one. There were several people I talked to that became very ill. Confirmed by my doctor it was the food.

• My brother (29 y/o healthy) and I (27 y/o healthy) got a severe case of Salmonella at this resort. This resulted in 3 nights on the verge of being hospitalized by the on-site doctor (additional charge to be seen or treated by them). We weren’t able to eat for 3 days and any liquids were not staying in our bodies.

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