Couple left with hefty medical bills after bad sushi sends them to hospital

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – A New Tampa couple claims bad sushi from Publix made them so sick, they ended up in the hospital with food poisoning. Not only that, they now have thousands of dollars in medical expenses, and say Publix isn’t doing anything to help.

Three months ago, David and Alex Crosby went to the Publix off of Bruce B. Downs Boulevard and Tampa Palms Boulevard. They bought a crab roll and a spicy tuna roll. That shopping trip turned into anything but a pleasure.

“It was pretty brutal. Just the pain of throwing up so much. It got so bad I couldn’t stand up straight,” said David Crosby.

The couple tried to wait it out before going to the hospital.

“I’m lucky enough I have insurance with my parents. My wife is on Medicaid with the baby so we’re pretty reluctant to go to the hospital to begin with just because we knew we couldn’t afford it.”

But with unbearable pain, both David and his wife ended up in the emergency room for more than six hours.

“It was treatment for the nausea, the abdominal pain. I think one of them was even a suppository.”

Now the couple has thousands of dollars in unpaid medical bills.

“We’re college students. We both work in restaurants. We don’t make enough money to cover these bills. That’s why I came to you guys.”

They tried Publix first but were told to contact AFC sushi. AFC sushi is the sushi supplier for Publix. The couple says they’ve jumped through all the hoops and still have no answers.

“After three months, they finally get the records, just to tell us specifically they need a stool sample which the doctor said wasn’t necessary.”

Publix sent us the following statement regarding the matter:

The fresh sushi we offer in our stores is made fresh daily by one of our suppliers. We were made aware of the incident in March. Food safety is our highest priority and we immediately referred the customer to the supplier. To our knowledge the incident was resolved, until you reached out to us. We are contacting the supplier for an update, and to look into the issue ourselves, as well.”

The Crosby’s aren’t thrilled with that answer, but hope it’s a step in the right direction.

“We’re not looking to shame Publix or make out with all this money just because we’ve had some misfortune. We just want to get what is owed to us and we feel that is our medical expenses.”

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