'Tiger Brands must pay for victims' treatment,' says top lawyer

23 March 2018 - 07:00
By Katharine Child
Tiger Brands CEO Lawrence Macdougall.
Image: FREDDY MAVUNDA Tiger Brands CEO Lawrence Macdougall.

As class action lawyer Richard Spoor prepares  to sue Tiger Brands for hundreds of millions of rands,  he claims listeriosis survivors need medical treatment and can’t access it.

Spoor wants Tiger Brands to support victims’ medical costs.

Baby Theto survived listeriosis, unlike 76 other babies that the disease killed, but the four-month-old infant now has a shunt in her head to drain fluid.

According to Spoor, the child has spent much of her life in hospital fighting listeroisis-induced meningitis and sepsis. Her brain is now swollen.

Spoor said he was hoping Tiger Brands would step up and pay for medical expenses in the meantime.

Many of the listeriosis victims who have come forward and approached Spoor are poor.

Tiger Brands spokesman Nevashanee Naiker said the firm had received Spoor’s letter asking for assistance towards Baby Theto’s medical costs.

For the full story visit Times Select