Obesity in the Headlines

March 11, 2004 - New York Times

Vote in House Offers a Shield for Restaurants in Obesity Suits

By CARL HULSE
Published: March 11, 2004

ASHINGTON, March 10 - Saying overeating is a problem for individuals, not the courts, the House easily approved legislation on Wednesday to bar people from suing restaurants on the ground that their food makes customers fat.

Advocates of the Republican-written measure, which has become known on Capitol Hill as the cheeseburger bill, said it was needed to curb the threat of obesity claims against fast-food franchises that provide millions of jobs along with their burgers and fries.

"The food industry is under attack and in the cross hairs of the same trial lawyers who went after big tobacco," said Representative Ric Keller, a Florida Republican who is the chief sponsor of the measure, which was adopted 276 to 139.

The White House endorsed the bill on Wednesday, saying in a statement that "food manufacturers and sellers should not be held liable for injury because of a person's consumption of legal, unadulterated food and a person's weight gain or obesity."

The outlook is unclear in the Senate, where Democrats have blocked consideration of such limitations on lawsuits. The main sponsor, however, is the No. 2 Republican, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

"This bill says, `Don't run off and file a lawsuit if you are fat,' " said Representative F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., Republican of Wisconsin, chairman of the Judiciary Committee. "It says, `Look in the mirror because you're the one to blame.' "

Opponents said the legislation was unnecessary and irresponsible in light of this week's government report identifying obesity as a condition fast catching up to tobacco as the No. 1 preventable cause of death in the United States. Democrats said the fact that the House was devoting almost a full day to the proposal illustrated the misplaced priorities of the Republican majority.

"With all the challenges facing this country and with the limited schedule set by the Republicans this year, is this the best bill to consider?" asked Representative Jim McGovern, Democrat of Massachusetts. "Under the Republican leadership, this House has become a place where trivial issues are debated passionately and serious ones not at all."

The measure was the latest Republican-led effort to provide legal immunity for a specific industry after efforts to impose broader limits have been blocked. Last week, a measure to provide immunity to gun manufacturers and dealers was defeated. Last year, a broad energy measure stalled over resistance to granting immunity to producers of a gasoline additive blamed for water pollution. In the past, Republicans pressed for immunity for the tobacco industry and producers of vaccines.

While Republicans on the House floor said there had been a spate of such suits against restaurants, Democrats said there had been few.

John Banzhaf, a law professor at George Washington University who has been a main critic of the measure, said that he knew of only one suit that would be covered by the measure and that it had been dismissed in court. Professor Banzhaf said a handful of other such suits had proceeded based on labeling and ingredients. He also acknowledged that there were lawyers exploring suing restaurants over obesity.

"There seems to be a hysteria that a couple of law professors are going to pick on poor little defenseless companies like McDonald's, Kraft and KFC," Professor Banzhaf said. "It just doesn't make sense."

Supporters said the mere prospect of lawsuits justified the measure, which the House majority leader, Tom DeLay of Texas, said was intended to discourage the "Ronald McDonald made me do it defense."

"It is ridiculous that we even need to do a bill like this, but we do," Mr. DeLay said.

The legislation is formally known as the Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act. It would bar new cases and dismiss pending federal and state suits in which damages are sought as compensation for conditions connected to weight gain or obesity attributed to restaurant food. The authors said it would not prevent suits brought because of a restaurant's negligence, false advertising, mislabeling or tainted food.

Though the bill was championed by Republicans, 55 Democrats joined 221 Republicans in supporting it. Opposing it were 137 Democrats, one Republican and one independent.

Democratic critics failed in multiple efforts to win changes in the measure, which was backed by the National Restaurant Association and the National Federation of Independent Businesses and opposed by some legal and health interests.

"For small-business owners, the threat of a frivolous lawsuit remains one of their greatest worries," Jack Faris, president of the business group, said.

But Dr. Neal Barnard, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, called the measure unwise because obesity was gaining new recognition as a significant health problem.

"Given that we are just now beginning to discover the industry's involvement, granting them sweeping immunity is, at best, dangerously short-sighted," Dr. Barnard said.