Malden woman sues over sushi roll she says made her sick

A Malden woman who says she's been unable to return to work since eating a bacteria-laden sushi roll at a Cambridge restaurant in March has sued the raw-tuna distributor she says is to blame.

Brandy Feeney is seeking more than $75,000 (plus lawyer's fees) from Moon Marine of Cupertino, CA, which on April 13 announced a recall of its "Nakaochi Scrape" product because it was infected with a bad strain of salmonella from yellowfin tuna caught off India. Scrape is the stuff left over on fish bones after the main part of the fish has been processed, and is typically disguised with spices and other things in "spicy" sushi rolls.

In her lawsuit, filed yesterday in US District Court in Boston, Feeney says she chowed down on a "spicy tuna roll" at Thelonius Monkfish in Cambridge on March 26 and fell ill with stomach pains and diarrhea two days later. It got so bad she went to Mass. General, where a stool sample showed the presence of the same strain of salmonella the FDA would report two weeks later was making consumers of the Natkaochi Scrape sick. She charges the tuna roll she ate was made with the product.

Feeney says she continued to suffer stomach pains and other issues for two weeks - but that she remains out of work because she continues to test positive for the salmonella strain. Her suit seeks damages for her pain and suffering and lost wages, both to date and in the future.

Moon Marine yesterday announced a second salmonella-related recall, this time of "tuna strips."