Hold Your Wee for a Wii

Yeah, i saw that earlier today... You know the family of the deceased is going to sue the radio station - especially if the host said anything along the lines of "come on, you can do it! finish that bottle off!".

It's truly sad how litigious our nation has gotten...

 

Beyond the senseless death, the sad thing about this story is that the same thing happened here in Nor-Cal not even a year ago at Chico State (Cal State University Chico) during a fraternity hazing. Chico is about 75 miles north of Sacramento.
Story here

The liability for the radio station (Entercom Inc.) is that the frat hazing was highly publicized here in the greater Sacramento area. One would think people would remember . . . especially Entercom - owners of many news stations and the local Air America outlet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KCTC

You just know they were talking up a storm about privileged frat boys doing senseless things.

My guess . . . not a far stretch . . . Entercom will settle out of court for big dollars.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sufferin' Prius Envy @ Jan 16 2007, 05:32 PM) [snapback]376486[/snapback]</div>

Radio station should not be held liable. Why? Because of an old concept called personal responsibility.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(PLM @ Jan 16 2007, 06:49 PM) [snapback]376498[/snapback]</div>

Yeah, but even concerning personal responsibility, most people don't expect drinking water to kill them.

The radio station will need to pay out something or live with the bad PR from killing a mother of three small children.

*EDIT: more details at http://www.news10.net/display_story.aspx?storyid=23350

>>Fellow contestant James Ybarra of Woodland said he met Strange at the event and had no idea of the potential danger of water poisoning. "They were small little half-pint bottles so we thought it was going to be easy," Ybarra said. "They told us if you don't feel like you can do this, don't put your health in risk."
...
Ybarra said before the contest, he did not read a liability waiver form handed to him by station personnel before signing it. Ybarra said he was surprised by the physical toll he felt after the contest.
...
"They should have had a physician there, some type of statement or as to this can kill you. You can die from this," Strange's friend and co-worker Tracy Beam said. "People have died from this before and here we are. We don't have our Jennifer." <<


So she probably signed a release, but may not have even read it and may not have been informed of any danger. I'd put my money on the radio station having to pay out.

 

The medical angle to the story may be distorted. I wonder how much water she drank.

 

Oh, geez. Now they're going to ban water.

 

I'm a big fan of personal responsibility - but the station deserves a large part of the blame here. Water at that quantities is a *lethal* substance. The station acted just as recklessly as if it held a cyanide ingesting contest (last person to have a seizure wins!), or a Russian roulette contest.

-Ken

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(kdmorse @ Jan 16 2007, 06:36 PM) [snapback]376513[/snapback]</div>

Apparently water at that quantity is lethal. How did she drink the water? Did she hold the bottle/glass? Did she ask for refills? Was the bottle/glass strapped to her body? Did the station hook a hose to a faucet and tape the end to her mouth? If she did not drink, was she zapped with electricity? Did she have to wear women's underwear? Please explain how the station forced her to take a lethal dose of water.

 

It's very possible to drink enough water to kill you.. someone doesn't have to hold a hose down your throat.

It's mind over matter... if you push yourself to do it.. you probably will. was she aware that drinking that much might kill her.. or that when she started to feel ill that it was a serious sign... probably not.

the station should have known what they are doing. lack of research puts them at fault. they were putting everyone in danger.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(V8Cobrakid @ Jan 16 2007, 07:18 PM) [snapback]376532[/snapback]</div>

Unfortunately your ideas have taken hold in American society. No one is responsible, it is always "the devil made me do it".

 

They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Stev0 @ Jan 16 2007, 06:29 PM) [snapback]376509[/snapback]</div>

They won't ban it, they'll just make us have to be 21 before we can drink it.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(PLM @ Jan 16 2007, 06:56 PM) [snapback]376520[/snapback]</div>

She probably chose to.

 

She volunteered for the contest, she signed the waiver, she willingly drank the water, and finally she didn't go see a physician when she didn't feel well later that day. Did she have complete free will to preserve her life and health? yes.

In a case like this, i agree with many of you that there really shouldn't be any wort of lawsuit here. However, this is America.

It was here that some lady won a lawsuit for spilling hot coffee on herself after driving through McDonalds.

It was here that someone sued McDonalds for causing Obesity.

It was here a lady won $6,000 for "emotional stress" after receiving a bad haircut at a salon.

It was here that Tobacco companies were sued for causing cancer.

How is this situation any different from the ones i just described? In all of them, the individual had total free will, no one forced them to do anything. In fact, many of them willingly, gleefully entered into the situation which led to the lawsuit.

Coffee is hot, you expect it to be hot, you want it to be hot. Why does it surprise you that it burns when you spill it on yourself?

Fast food is bad for you. it doesn't contain veggies or any semblance of a balanced diet. does it surprise you you got fat?

Who hasn't gotten a bad haircut? If you don't like the haircut, refuse to pay for it and go somewhere else to have it fixed.

Who thought that smoking - something that initially made you cough and hack up a lung - was good for you? who thought the warnings on the packages didn't matter? Who knew that participating in an action that destroyed your body would be bad for you?

America is a very litigious society. We don't care who morally should be held responsible. All we care about is improving our station in life. If we can improve it by sucking money out of a company for any reason, you can bet someone, somewhere will do it.

this lawsuit will probably sound something like this:

Lawyer 1: People have died from this before, it's been well publicized, a simple google search tells us water can be lethal in high quantities. You were negligent when you put these people in this situation, without providing for proper safety procedures, such as having a doctor on duty, ensuring that no one would suffer from any lasting effects and encouraging treatment should they feel anything is wrong with them. You willfully and knowingly put their lives at risk, and she died because of it.

Lawyer 2: We didn't force her to drink the water, and she did sign this waiver.

Judge: Based on these other ridiculous cases, we find in favor of the moronic woman, and award her family $100MM. Court dismissed.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(eagle33199 @ Jan 17 2007, 10:08 AM) [snapback]376727[/snapback]</div>

A lot will depend on the waiver, whether it just asked if she was in good health or whether it clearly laid out the risks of water toxicity. I sort of doubt it did the latter.

As for the McDonalds coffee case, that got won for a simple reason. The McDonalds in question was offering a "free coffee refill" promo. In order to cut down on the number of people actually using it, they cranked up the temperature at which the coffee was served, so it would take so long to cool down, people wouldn't use the refill option. It wasn't just regular hot coffee the lady spilled on herself. I mean, I can't recall any rash of "winning" hot coffee cases that followed. The McDonalds one was a pretty unique instance.

The tobacco companies willfully misrepresented the dangers of their products for decades. That's why people get to sue them.

What will likely happen here is that the radio station will settle out of court to try to get the story to go away.

 

While my initial reaction was against a civil suit against the radio station, after reading more, I've decided that they do hold significant liability.

The radio station knew the danger, but dismissed it. They joked about the danger during the contest. A nurse called them up during the contest and informed them that it could result in sickness and death.

If the radio DJs and the contestants were all ignorant to the danger, then I would say no liability. But since the radio DJs were informed about the danger and did not properly inform the contestants, who did not know about the danger, then I think the radio station has huge liability.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6164262.html

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE("Gamespot Article")</div>

 

I wonder if she practiced in the days leading up to the contest. Her body chemistry might have been off before she started the contest and the contest just pushed her over the edge.

 

http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html

Beware of dihydrogen monooxide!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(burritos @ Jan 17 2007, 11:57 AM) [snapback]376789[/snapback]</div>

It's too late! Our rivers, lakes, and oceans are already full of it! I think I even have to bathe in it!

(As a chemist, this is one of the first jokes that we learn in school.)