- Claim: unwanted sugar in Dunkin’ Donuts coffee order sent customer into diabetic shock [AP]
- Schadenfreude aside, key theory in feds’ case against John Edwards looking mighty strained [Meck Deck/John Locke Foundation, Steve Hayward/Power Line, Ted Frank, Jacob Sullum] “They’ve indicted one former presidential candidate on one count of false statements?” [Caleb Brown] American Lawyer looks back at the law firms that backed Edwards in 2008; our coverage of his ’04 law-firm backers and of moneyman Fred Baron, and my commentary on Baron’s ethical standards;
- Edwards-reminiscent? Theory that earlier C-section would have averted cerebral palsy nets $58 M verdict [Thomas Scheffey, Connecticut Law Tribune]
- Carter Wood, key business-policy blogger, departs NAM for Business Roundtable;
- Tenderer tort-law treatment for trespassers, courtesy 3rd Restatement? [David Freddoso/Examiner, Richard Cupp via TortsProf]
- Non-shockingly, some litigation defense lawyers aren’t enthusiastic about lawsuit reform [Texas Lawyer]
- “Attorney charged with stealing clerk’s textbook from courtroom” [Baltimore Sun]
Filed under: criminals who sue, defense lawyers, don't, John Edwards, obstetrics, restaurants
5 Comments
I saw the “diabetic coma” story and I just had to comment on it speaking as a type 1 diabetic. The story doesn’t specify what type of diabetes the plaintiff suffers from but it also impossible for someone to go into acute diabetic shock in the manner that she is alleging.
Diabetic shock, in most acute cases, is caused by low-blood sugar (hypoglycemia), not high-blood sugar (hyperglycemia). From what I can find online, diabetic shock in the manner she describes would require blood sugar levels in the 1800 mg/dl range according to one source online, over 18 times what is considered to be an “ideal” blood sugar level for a diabetic, and she would have been suffering from severe dehydration prior to the shock.
In addition, and I can’t speak for all diabetics, but I’ve been able to detect the difference in taste between artificial sweeteners and sugar since I was a kid. And I can’t imagine the amount of sugar that she would have to ingest to bring her blood-sugar levels up high enough to do into a hyperglycemia diabetic coma.
I am married to a type 1, Timothy, and your comment is 100% accurate, although my wife does have trouble distinguishing between sugar and artificial sweeteners by taste, so I am often employed as a taster.
There is absolutely no way this happened as described in the article.
Re: Dunkin Donuts case. I don’t believe I have ever see a story anywhere on the internet that drew 4,585 comments and didn’t involve politics. But what warmed the cockles of my cold, cold heart was how every early on, when there were but a few comments, a commenter raised the specter of our old friend Stella Liebeck and the McDonald’s coffee too hot case being the natural progression of this case. Same said commenter brought to the discussion the same old tired misinformation that Ted Frank via OL has sought to dispel for years.
For the record it is possible to wind up in the hospital with hyperglycemia, but usually only in juvenile previously undiagnosed and therefore untreated cases.
My take on this case is “just-another-finger-in-the-chili.”
I have the opposite problem. I am extremely allergic to most artificial sweetners. I have actually had a waitress bring me a Diet Pepsi when I had ordered Pepsi. When I asked her about it after taking a small sip, she replied that I didn’t look like I needed regular Pepsi. When I go to a drive-thru, if I can’t put the cream and sugar in my coffee myself, I don’t go to that drive-thru again.
Re $58M verdict
The message sent by a verdict like is:
-the rare few can win the big lottery
-Obstestricians will cut back on babies delivered
-medical students thinking of going into OB/GYN will choose something else.