posted on August 29, 2004 08:29:24 AM new
Eateries Push for Obesity Suit Protection
Sat Aug 28, 4:33 PM ET Add Business - AP to My Yahoo!
By IRA DREYFUSS, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Bills to protect restaurants and food companies against lawsuits by people who claim the meals or snacks made them fat are moving ahead in the states like hamburgers passed out a drive-thru window.
Measures known as "cheeseburger bills" bar people from seeking damages in court from food companies for weight gain and associated medical conditions, including heart disease and diabetes.
Supporters say the proposals shield businesses from having to pay to defend themselves against frivolous suits. Opponents contend the claims often are valid and ought to be heard in court.
Two cases against McDonald's accused the company of causing obesity in thousands of children. In dismissing the cases last year, U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet in New York said consumers ought to know that eating lots of fast food can make them fat and that they cannot ask courts to "protect them from their own excesses."
That ruling has not stopped lawyers from holding conferences on how to win such claims. Also, the possibility of a legal defeat haunts the food industry, whose leaders say they should not be held responsible for people's eating decisions.
Many lawmakers agree.
So far this year, a dozen states have enacted laws against such suits, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
A Washington state law prohibits people from suing food manufacturers, sellers and advertisers based on claims arising from people's weight gain, obesity, or related health conditions.
The law, backed by the state restaurant association, keeps the responsibility for eating where it belongs, said Democratic state Rep. Patricia Lantz.
"It was so common sense," said Lantz, a trial lawyer who heads the House Judiciary Committee (news - web sites) in her state. "Most people don't see any reason to impose liability for an individual's inability to push himself away from the dinner table."
Similar bills have won approval in other states. But efforts at passing a national shield have faltered in Congress.
One bill, sponsored by Rep. Ric Keller (news, bio, voting record), R-Fla., was passed by the House. A second, sponsored by Sen. Mitch McConnell (news, bio, voting record), R-Ky., is before a Senate Judiciary Committee subcommittee.
The prospects that a ban will pass are not good because time is running out on the congressional calendar and lawmakers are facing re-election in November.
The issue is politically charged. Republicans say companies need protection from greedy lawyers. Democrats say that the courts should decide whether the cases are worth hearing.
Some consumer advocates also oppose the laws. "These cheeseburger bills are shameful efforts to deprive the public of the right to have a day in court if they feel they have been aggrieved," said Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
Class-action lawyers will find ways around the state laws, and big fast-food companies could be their targets, predicts John Banzhaf, professor of public interest law at George Washington University.
Banzhaf, who favors the suits, said companies could be vulnerable for failing to tell customers how much fat is in their food.
"Is it a shoo-in? No," said Banzhaf, who helped mastermind suits against the tobacco industry. "But if we pick our plaintiffs carefully, the guy who eats there every day, we can make our cases stick."
posted on August 29, 2004 05:54:53 PM new
I know....these lawyers will sue over anything and everything. But this whole obesity issue being caused by anyone other than the person putting this food in their own mouths, is just so absolutely crazy. The judges should be throwing these cases out of court...not even hearing them based on the premise they did it to themselves.
If the kerry/Edwards group gets in the WH we'll be seeing much more of this type of litigation too. Edwards got a tremendously large percentate of his campaign funding from lawyers. BIG, big money from them. Their lawyer friends/donators will be expecting great paybacks from their administration, should they make the final cut.
Good deal for those who don't want to work for a living though. Just force-feed your child, or eat enough fast food yourself, then turn around and blame it made them fat and it's their fault for selling it to them. Wow...what a way to make some $$.
