Late-night comedians had a field day in the summer of 2002 when a lawsuit accusing McDonald's of making two teenage customers in New York fat and unhealthy was filed.
But thousands of restaurant owners were not amused:Pelman v. McDonald's was the second time in a month that lawyers had tried to hold food companies responsible for America's obesity crisis.
Food and restaurant companies, fearing they would be hammered with enormous judgments, as the tobacco industry was. immediately began fighting back, waging an aggressive campaign to make it impossible for anyone to sue them successfully for causing obesity or obesity-related health problems.
Almost three years later, they have had astounding success. Twenty states have enacted versions of a"commonsense consumption"law. They vary slightly in substance, but all prevent lawsuits seeking personal injury damages related to obesity from ever being tried in their courts. Another 11 states have similar legislation pending.
Although plaintiffs' lawyers are confident there are ways around the new state laws, the measures, along with a class- action overhaul bill President Bush signed into law this year, will probably make it harder for lawyers in obesity cases to win the kind of large awards seen in tobacco cases.
The National Restaurant Association, based in Washington, and its 50 state organizations, which represent large chains like McDonald's and small independent businesses, led the campaign. In most states, lobbyists for food companies and restaurants helped write the legislation and did much of the legwork in state capitols.
Restaurant owners and food company executives personally visited state lawmakers, testified at hearings and steered campaign contributions to pivotal lawmakers. Executives from Kraft and Coca-Cola showed up in Texas, for instance, to lobby for that state' s commonsense consumption bill, which was signed into law by Gov. RickPerry last month.
According to data from the Institute on Money in State Politics. a nonpartisan research group based in Helena, Mont. , in the 2002 and 2004 election cycles, the food and restaurant industry gave a total of ＄5. 5 million to politicians in the 20 states that have passed laws shielding companies from obesity liability.
Adoption of commonsense consumption laws by almost half the states reveals how an organized and impassioned lobbying effort, combined with a receptive legislative climate, can quickly alter the legal framework on a major public health issue like obesity.
Consumer advocates, who knew about the state efforts but were preoccupied trying to prevent similar measures from being enacted on a national level, are not pleased. Michael Jacobson executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, calls it "shameful" that food companies are trying to get special exemptions from lawsuits.
"If someone is saying that a 64-ounce soda at 7-Eleven contributed to obesity, that person should have his day in court, "Mr. Jacobson said. "If it's frivolous, the courts are accustomed to throwing those out. "
The purpose of the "commonsense consumption" law is to_____.
A．to protect the customers' rights in obesity cases
B．to shield the food companies from obesity charges
C．to uphold the judicial justice
D．both A and C
