Comments on: Lawyers preparing soft-drink suit

By: Overlawyered

Overlawyered — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 00:17:36 +0000

Overweight? Blame Coke and Pepsi

I’ve got a piece in the new issue of the Manhattan Institute magazine City Journal examining the emerging barrage of obesity suits against soft drink companies (Walter Olson, “Taking Cola to Court”, City Journal, Winter)….

By: Overlawyered

Overlawyered — Wed, 07 Dec 2005 11:53:13 +0000

“Lines Are Drawn for Big Suit Over Sodas”

The New York Times finally weighs in on the impending case against Big Soda (see Dec. 5). Maybe it took them longer than expected to get the spin in favor of the suit just right….

By: Deoxy

Deoxy — Tue, 06 Dec 2005 18:32:45 +0000

At least in the smoking trials, there was evidence that the tabacco companies had evidence of the harmful effects of smoking and deliberately withheld it from the public. I’m not saying that it makes all those suits reasonable, but it certainly adds some weight and affects public opinion. At least it involved some wrongdoing by somebody.

Where’s the wrongdoing with caffeine? Can’t they sell caffeine PILLS over the counter to people?!? Kids even?

By: Jessica

Jessica — Tue, 06 Dec 2005 08:54:21 +0000

This just goes to show that Americans are “money-hungry”. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse in this “sue-happy” world, it does. People choose to drink sodas, it is not forced on them. Just like people choose to smoke. What’s next?

By: Ted

Ted — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 11:20:44 +0000

I suspect the scare quotes reflected the legal theory, rather than the medical principle. Caffeine is addictive and it’s briefly unpleasant to cease using it, but it doesn’t sap one of free will such that manufacturers are committing fraud by selling products containing caffeine.

By: Deoxy

Deoxy — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 10:52:27 +0000

I don’t know why you put addiction in quotes – that caffeine is addictive is beyond dispute. (I have definitive proof just in my own family, though not myself, thankfully.) Not that it’s something one could sue over, I would hope…?

That’s just pathetic – could it be that people choose the drink with the higher caffeine content because they… want more caffeine to help them wake up? No, of course not…