oracle
07-26-2002, 05:44 PM
Betcha Can't Sue Just One (http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-turley26jul26.story?coll=la%2Dnews%2Dcomment%2Dopi nions)
By JONATHAN TURLEY, Jonathan Turley is a law professor at George Washington University.
Leave it to lawyers to combine the two favorite American pastimes: eating and suing. In various states, lawsuits have been filed or are being planned against the fast-food industry. Lawyers who recently received windfalls in fees from tobacco lawsuits are now eyeing fast food as the next opportunity for super-size awards.
With the exception of tobacco, there are few things that kill more people than overeating. Obesity caused more than 300,000 deaths in 2000. That same year, obesity resulted in $117 billion in health-care costs.
In the last 10 years, obesity rates in the United States have increased 60%, and states like Iowa have populations with more than 20% obesity. Those figures are enough to make the most restrained personal injury lawyer salivate like Pavlov's dog.
Lawyers tend to hunt in packs, and the fast-food industry has begun to look like that slow, stumbling member of the herd--ripe for culling. Lawyers are now probing the fast-food industry in at least six different areas for potential liability.
Some theories have proved fast and easy kills. Various Hindus, Sikhs, Jews and vegetarians recently sued McDonald's over its use of animal fats in its French fries. This resulted in a relatively easy legal settlement for $12 million, including $2.5 million in legal fees, without a trial. Additional lawsuits are now being planned.
...
Click here to read more (http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-turley26jul26.story?coll=la%2Dnews%2Dcomment%2Dopi nions)
By JONATHAN TURLEY, Jonathan Turley is a law professor at George Washington University.
Leave it to lawyers to combine the two favorite American pastimes: eating and suing. In various states, lawsuits have been filed or are being planned against the fast-food industry. Lawyers who recently received windfalls in fees from tobacco lawsuits are now eyeing fast food as the next opportunity for super-size awards.
With the exception of tobacco, there are few things that kill more people than overeating. Obesity caused more than 300,000 deaths in 2000. That same year, obesity resulted in $117 billion in health-care costs.
In the last 10 years, obesity rates in the United States have increased 60%, and states like Iowa have populations with more than 20% obesity. Those figures are enough to make the most restrained personal injury lawyer salivate like Pavlov's dog.
Lawyers tend to hunt in packs, and the fast-food industry has begun to look like that slow, stumbling member of the herd--ripe for culling. Lawyers are now probing the fast-food industry in at least six different areas for potential liability.
Some theories have proved fast and easy kills. Various Hindus, Sikhs, Jews and vegetarians recently sued McDonald's over its use of animal fats in its French fries. This resulted in a relatively easy legal settlement for $12 million, including $2.5 million in legal fees, without a trial. Additional lawsuits are now being planned.
...
Click here to read more (http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-turley26jul26.story?coll=la%2Dnews%2Dcomment%2Dopi nions)