Legal Question in Personal Injury in Iowa

I am seeking legal advice in regards to an incident that happened while eating a school lunch. The product was called "pizza sticks", basically just a breading filled with cheese. I was on my second or third bite when it hit me. A nasty noise accompanied by a sharp pain was felt in my gums behind my back molar tooth. I had thought it was a cavity filling that had fallen out so I proceeded to spit out my food. After examining what was in my mouth, I found no metal object. My mouth was filling with blood at this point and I was still experiencing a lot of pain. I felt the origin of the pain with my tongue and got another surprise, now my tongue was also cut open and bleeding. At this time I went to the school nurse. After examining my mouth she pulled out what appeared to be the tip of a razor blade/knife that had been baked into the pizza stick. She documented everything and kept the razor blade with the documents. My father called the school to inquire about the incident and was told that they were investigating. They claimed that all of their knives/razors had no tips missing, and assumed it had come from the production plant. Again they assured us that they would further investigate and get back to us. We moved soon after and never heard another word about it. It has been a few years now and I still experience a sort of piercing pain from time to time, as if a nerve is being pinched, where the blade went into my gums. I never think too much of it because I know what it's from, and until recently I try not to worry. The reason I'm concerned now is because I have gotten 3 of my 4 wisdom teeth almost fully grown in. The only one that has not even started poking through is the place where the razor tip entered. It feels as if it's trying to break through but the only thing that happens is excruciating pain. A few years ago when my dentist was examining whether or not my wisdom teeth would cause me any problems. He determined through x-rays that I had enough room in my mouth, they were straight and all would come in with no problem. Can I still go after the company or my school for negligence and/or personal injury?


Asked on 2/23/13, 1:28 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Robert Luedeman solo practitioner

You have not told me how long ago this happened or how old you were when the event happened. Personal injury and product liability claims have a two year statute of limitations in Iowa. If you can demonstrate that the injury is continuing you may be able to avoid that, but I suspect your claim may be time barred.

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Answered on 2/24/13, 6:41 am


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