Court revives McDonald's obesity suit

CNN.com ^ | 01/26/05 | AP

[LarkNeelie]

NEW YORK (AP) -- An appeals court Tuesday revived part of a class-action lawsuit blaming McDonald's for making people fat, reinstating claims pertaining to deceptive advertising.

A three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a lower court judge erred when he dismissed parts of the lawsuit brought on behalf of two New York children.

U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet dismissed the lawsuit in 2003 because he said it failed to link the children's alleged health problems directly to McDonald's products.

But the appeals judges said New York's general business law requires a plaintiff to show only that deceptive advertising was misleading and that the plaintiff was injured as a result. The panel upheld other parts of the dismissal.

[LarkNeelie]

The Center For Consumer Freedom/Promoting Personal Responsibility and Protecting Consumer Choice says:

Every year around this time, state legislators return to work armed with a laundry list of proposals to replace last year's failed bills. For the bevy of big brother bureaucrats out to tax and regulate certain foods, this year is no different. They've come to the table with a buffet of new bills supplanting consumer choice and personal responsibility with big government bureaucracy. Thankfully, a separate group of legislators has proposed a new wave of "Cheeseburger Bills" designed to prevent frivolous obesity litigation against restaurants and food producers.

So far fourteen states have passed "Cheeseburger Bills." This year, ten more states (Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and Wyoming) have proposed similar legislation. Of particular interest is New Mexico's "Right To Eat Enchiladas Act."

This is not the only case McDonalds has had to fight. Last summer, McDonald's was sued for not having changed over to a healthier cooking oil.

"..a new lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco insists the burger giant has failed in its promise to move to a healthier cooking oil, and it is being brought not by fry-eaters but by Kathy Fettke, a "personal coach" and infomercial pitchwoman who "is living her dream by helping others live their dreams."

I have my own dream. That someday we get real tort reform. But I won't hold my breath.

[freepatriot32]

Thank god almighty that the republicans are going to win a majority in congress and the senate in 1996 because thier contract with america specifically says they are going to pass tort reform bills and surely the republicans wont lie to the american people just to get votes from a bunch of (r)doltarous sheeple time and time again.Thier word is bond after all.So all we have to do is sit back and wait for nov 3 to roll around in 1996 then stuff like this lawsuit wont ever happen again.Yep i'll just be sitting around waiting for 1996 to come . I also hear that in the year 2000 the republican s might actually gain the white house along with the congress and the senate and boy when that happens watch out.You will see the goverment shrink back down to its constituition limits and size faster then you can say federalist papers i just cant wait.

[freepatriot32]

ping

[freepatriot32]

Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.

[BlackbirdSST]

Thanks for the PING! You're #2 says it all. Blackbird.

[freepatriot32]

possible story for your ping list

[Minuteman23]

If a person knows or should know that eating copious orders of supersized McDonald's products is unhealthy and may result in weight gain," Sweet had written, "it is not the place of the law to protect them from their own excesses."

What part of that is hard to understand?

I have my own dream. That someday we get real tort reform. But I won't hold my breath.

I have the same dream Lark, and the same cynicism that it will happen.

And anyway, we can't sue one corporation for causing our obesity. If we list all the corporations that manufacture all the high-fat and high-carb food we eat, we'd be spending our lives in court. It's called supply and demand. If we didn't demand it they wouldn't supply it. A little personal responsibility might be a better idea?

And that this lawsuit was brought on behalf of two children is just another example of widespread non-parenting.

Joanie, I am down 12 pounds in the last month, thanks 20% to your input and 80% my amazing willpower. :-) How's your conditioning going?

[joanie-f]

Congrats on your twelve pounds! Thirteen to go? You must be beginning to feel the difference, clothing-inches and physical stamina wise? Continue to keep me posted! (As for the 20%/80%, I would beg to differ, but why quibble with the seeds of success? :)

Re: this article, you’re right. It’s yet another example of the modern American philosophy that we deserve to have whatever we crave (be it food, money, sex, or relationship-related) and the negative repercussions of our self-indulgence must elicit collective sympathy, and sometimes recompense, from those who 'allowed' our vices to be satiated. Punishing the (so-called) 'enablers' has become a cottage industry. Tort lawyers and leeches surely sprang from the same primordial slime (token remark for the evolutionists among us).

Reading about such imbecilic cases like the above tend to make those who are rigorously watching their nutrition intake even more furious than they might otherwise be (you didn’t say that in so many words, but I sensed it between the lines? :)

Thanks for asking about my conditioning progress.

Am biking between twelve and fifteen miles a night, and twenty or thirty a day on weekends (barring snow on the roads, in which case I use the fitness room at a nearby rec center). Rick doesn’t do biking with me, but he does go to the gym with me, and has learned to really enjoy that. He is starting to benefit, too. (BTW, have you seen the Citi Premiere Pass credit card commercial with the heavyset black man weighing himself in the gym? I won’t say anymore about it, except that it’s priceless! You’ll know it when you see it. :)

Am eating mostly complex carbs (mostly baked potatoes, carrot juice, dried beans and lentils) and proteins (lean chicken, cottage cheese), and fresh fruit (mostly grapefruit, oranges, and bananas), and fresh spinach. Am losing a little weight (which is not my goal), and am gaining muscle (which is).

The canal tour is in late May, and the New England race is in late June, so I hope to be at my personal best by then, for both.

Congratulations, again, on your excellent progress … maintain the momentum!

(psst ... this is the end of my post … so don’t scroll down … really … I mean it … no joke … you hear? …)

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

~ joanie ..

[qam1]

Not really for my ping list, But definitely one for the Puff list under "We told you they were coming for you next"

[Minuteman23]

Thanks for the inspiration, and for the update on your own regimen!

And thanks for the warning not to scroll down. (I didn't) :-)

You have mail.

[Landru]

Oh look it's Ground Hog Day, February 2nd!!

Hmmmm what is it about February 2nd that's special, aside from some rodent's meteorological prediction of our seasonal future, anyway?

Yes, *that's* it.

...Happy Birthday, Angel. ;^)

[joanie-f]

Even though the celebration isn't quite the same after the age of fifty, I appreciate the birthday wishes, Dan. :)

Haven’t been here much lately, so apologies for not being in touch or responding to pings of late. Between dealing wit the annual audit at work, putting the finishing touches on our upcoming recital, maintaining a daily bike regimen, and beginning construction on our new home (we are finally building on woodland that we purchased many years ago), sleep is about the only ‘luxury’ allowed just now. :)

Having never designed/built a home from scratch, we are learning the hard way that a township can dictate, via zoning ordinance, one’s every move, right down (practically) to the color you choose for your roof, and the length of the toilet tissue roll in your bathroom (slight exaggerations, but not by much). We’ve managed to successfully challenge some of their dictates, but not without spending significant time, energy and research in doing so.

I do manage to check in here several times a week, just to find out what’s happening in the world, and will probably be back into the fray in a month or so, so please keep my seat here warm in the interim, okay? :)

Again, thanks for the birthday wishes. (It appears that Punxatawny Phil did us proud out in the western part of the state this morning, predicting six more weeks of winter. Let’s assume that means much more snow, too … we haven’t received our fair share so far this winter. :)

~ joanie ...

(God bless the courageous voters of Iraq ... and the American military for making it possible for that courage to be demonstrated so vividly.)