Wed, Mar-10-04, 18:02
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There and Back Again
Posts: 1,590
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Plan: Atkins
Stats: 200/194.4/140
BF:42%/42%/20%
Progress: 9%
Location: Northern Colorado
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Protect Industry & Screw the Public - House Backs Ban on Obesity Lawsuits
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=sto...dc_10&printer=1
House Backs Ban on Obesity Lawsuits
42 minutes ago
By Joanne Kenen
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved legislation nicknamed the "cheeseburger bill" that would block lawsuits blaming the food industry for making people fat.
Approved on a 276-139 vote, the bill came up one day after health officials announced that obesity was on the verge of surpassing tobacco use as the leading preventable cause of death in the United States and urged people to exercise more and eat a balanced diet.
The bill has backing from the White House and much of the food industry but it faces hurdles in the Senate, which has often blocked House-passed measures that would cap legal damages or protect certain industries from lawsuits.
The "cheeseburger" debate became a verbal food fight with lawmakers using words rarely heard on the House floor like "crap," "foolish" and "sanctimonious" to describe the bill or each other.
The "Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act" would prevent what the bill calls frivolous lawsuits against makers, distributors or sellers of food and nonalcoholic beverages arising from obesity claims.
Backers said it is needed to protect the industry against an organized onslaught of lawsuits in which trial lawyers urge fat people to look for someone to blame. Judiciary Committee (news - web sites) chairman James Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican, said fat people should "look in the mirror."
Bill sponsor Rep. Ric Keller, a Florida Republican who calls himself a "chubby guy" with a taste for double cheeseburgers, said his legislation is about "common sense and personal responsibility."
Mostly Democratic critics, backed by some consumer groups, said the courts, not Congress, should determine when lawsuits are frivolous. North Carolina Democrat Rep. Melvin Watt said, "There's not a single pending lawsuit now that hasn't been dismissed."
The best-known case, filed by teenagers against McDonald's Corp., has been thrown out of federal court twice.
Critics said the bill sent a message to the food industry that it did not have to worry about public health. "That's the wrong message," said Massachusetts Democrat Rep. James McGovern.
Watt, who is black, called the bill "crap" when Sensenbrenner likened it to historic civil rights legislation. Watt quickly apologized.
Keller said his legislation would not block civil suits stemming from tainted foods or mislabeling -- although critics said it was so broadly worded that it would make it hard for individuals to file such suits.
The bill would block suits in state and federal courts, and dismiss any that have already been filed. A few states have already passed their own bans on fat suits, and others are considering them.
The congressional debate comes as public health officials have sounded the alarm about the number of fat Americans -- including growing numbers of children. Overweight people face numerous health risks.
John Cady, head of the National Food Processors Association, said, "This bill is a timely and needed response to the threat of lawsuits seeking to pin the responsibility for obesity in this country on the food industry." (Additional reporting by Jackie Frank in Washington and Deborah Cohen in Chicago)
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