[The Hunter of Jahanna]

McDonald's obesity suit tossed U.S. judge says complaint fails to prove chain is responsible for kids' weight gain. January 22, 2003: 12:11 PM EST By Jonathan Wald, CNN Writer NEW YORK (CNN) - A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Wednesday that alleged food from McDonald's restaurants is responsible for making people obese. The landmark legal action was the first of its kind against a fast-food chain to make its way into a U.S. courtroom, but Judge Robert Sweet's ruling, five months after the original complaint, means it will go no further. McDonald's (MCD: Research, Estimates) attorneys warned that if this case were allowed to proceed "it would lead to an avalanche of litigation." "Where should the line be drawn between an individual's own responsibility to take care of herself and society's responsibility to ensure others shield her? The complaint fails to allege the McDonald's products consumed by the plaintiffs were dangerous in any way other than that which was open and obvious to a reasonable consumer," Sweet said in his ruling. In August, a suit filed by the parents of two girls claimed that McDonald's and two of its restaurants in the Bronx failed to disclose clearly and conspicuously the ingredients and effects of its food, much of which is high in fat, salt, sugar and cholesterol. The plaintiffs argued that McDonald's should therefore be held accountable for the girls' obesity, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and elevated cholesterol. The girls are Jazlyn Bradley and Ashley Pelman. Bradley, 19, is 5 feet, 6 inches tall, and weighs 270 pounds. Pelman, 14, is 4-foot-10 and 170 pounds. Bradley said that a McMuffin for breakfast and a Big Mac meal for dinner was her regular diet. Pelman preferred the Happy Meals and used to eat at McDonald's three or four times a week. Bradley's father, Israel, said he never saw anything in the Bronx restaurants that informed him of the food's ingredients. "I always believed McDonald's was healthy for my children," he said in an affidavit. Samuel Hirsch, the lawyer bringing the case, called McDonald's food "physically or psychologically addictive." Hirsch accused the company of deliberately withholding information and targeting children. The effects of its food on people's health were "a very insipid, toxic kind of thing," Hirsch said. Hirsch was also critical of McDonald's billion-dollar advertising campaign. "Young individuals are not in a position to make a choice after the onslaught of advertising and promotions," Hirsch contended. Hirsch said he wanted to turn the case into a potentially multibillion-dollar class action on behalf of all New York children under the age of 18 who claim they suffer health problems as a result of eating McDonald's food. Lawyers representing McDonald's called the case "frivolous" and "the kind of lawsuit that shouldn't be in court." "Every responsible person understands what is in products such as hamburgers and fries, as well as the consequence to one's waistline, and potentially to one's health, of excessively eating those foods over a prolonged period of time," said the company's lawyers. They added it would be impossible to establish whether eating at McDonald's was a major cause of the girls' ailments. Genetics, medical conditions and sedentary lifestyles could also be factors, they said. In 2001, then-Surgeon General David Satcher reported that obesity had reached epidemic proportions in the United States and warned that without policy changes by the fast-food industry, schools, and government, obesity would surpass tobacco as the leading cause of preventable deaths. Judge Sweet's ruling dampens the hopes of Caesar Barber. Barber, a 56-year-old New Yorker, filed a suit in July against McDonald's, Wendy's, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Burger King. The 272-pound Bronx resident alleged that their food caused his obesity, two heart attacks and diabetes. This summer, McDonald's in France placed an advertisement in the popular magazine Femme Actuelle that said, "There is no reason to eat excessive amounts of junk food, nor go more than once a week to McDonald's." A McDonald's spokesman in the United States told CNN in a telephone interview that "this is one person's opinion. Eating McDonald's food can easily fit into a balanced diet. I eat its food every day and I'm perfectly healthy," the spokesman said. Last March, McDonald's settled a separate lawsuit in which vegetarian and religious groups accused it of using beef ingredients in its french fries despite describing the fries as vegetarian. The fast-food chain issued an apology and paid $10 million to the groups.

There is still hope for the legal system!! Maybe now people will start to take a little responsibility for their actions instead of runing to the lawyer to sue someone.