Jeff Morris wrote:

"Donal" wrote in message
...




zmaybe if that had been the situation. However, she wasn't at the wheel, she
wasn't driving, and contrary to Jim's repeated calims, she wasn't putting on
makeup.

Of course, what actually happened was that MacDonalds sold her a cup of
hot coffee, and she didn't take appropriate care in opening it in her
car. She had trouble getting the top off a cup of hot coffee. But
instead of realizing that she should wait until she could remove the top
safely, she kept on pulling on it until she spilled the coffee in her lap.

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED was that a hot-shot contingency lawyer was able
to show some highly inflamatory pictures of her burns to a jury, and the
jury was so enraged that they awarded a multi-million dollare punative
damages against MacDonalds, REGARDLESS of who was at fault, or whether
MacDonalds should be forced to pay despite the acions of the customer.

I was wrong about her putting on makeup, but I wasn't wrong with respect
to the underlying issue, which is that entire country is suffering from
such exorbitant law suit recoveries obtained by such hot shot lawyers.

I got the basic fact right, Jeff. The BASIC FACTS are that she got a hot
shot lawyer who enraged the jury with inflammatory pictures of her burns
and got a punitive judgment against MacDonalds that was based on their
emotional reaction to the pictures, and not on any rational
consideration of whether MacDonalds, or the lady, should be penalized
for their negligence. - This was CONFIRMED when the award was
substantially reduced on appeal.

The FACTS are that judgments of this kind, and the defensive measures
resulting from the threat of them, are a major drag on our economy for
both small and large business, and in particular, a major reason our
medical costs are the highest in the world. The end result of lawsuits
like this is a continued tax on all of us due to the added costs to
business. Where they relate to medical issues, they are a major factor
in the continued rise in the costs of health care and medical insurance,
to levels beyond those that many people can afford. In other words,
Jeff, because of tort recoveries such as that one (ignoring who was at
fault, and what both parties SHOULD have done) punitive tort recoveries
are a major reason that millions of American citizens can't get or can't
afford meaningful health care. It's also a major factor in the
precarious status of Medicare, lack of care for the indigent, etc.,
Additionally, related costs to businesses add to unemployment and
underemployment in many sectors of our economy.

But I suppose that we got one positive result out of the MacDonalds
suit. - We can now get lukewarm coffee from MacDonalds that we can
safely hold in our laps while we sit in our car. - Does that give you
some nice warm fuzzies?

Jim