I’D LIKE MY PUNITIVE DAMAGES SUPERSIZED

Cheeseburger bills attempt to take lawsuits off the menu (Globe and Mail, August 29th, 2004)

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.[...]

So far this year, a dozen states have enacted laws against such suits, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.[...]

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 favours 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 Mr. 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."

I’m suing Mom for all those pancake and syrup breakfasts she made me eat and for her triple layer chocolate fudge cake. Dammit, she knew what was in them but all I ever heard was "Eat, eat..."

Mmm... chocolate fudge.