Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[jay-ell]

Another one for you armchair lawyer types. 

Man says hold the cheese, claims McDonald's didn't, sues for $10 million

http://www.dailymail.com/story/News/2007081043

Although this appears frivolous on the surface, as a person with food allergies who has fallen victim to similar false assurances, I figured it was a matter of time before something like this happened.  Then again, would you bite into a hamburger without checking it if you knew it might kill you? 

[CortJstr]

People, it's gotten to the point that you are all amoebas until proven otherwise.

I hope we don't need to go through the gom jabbar because I am basically a huge wuss.

[Doc]

I'm with Ash on this one, company employees screwed up and cost this fellow money so they should cover his costs but my experience is that cheese generally hangs out over the sides of burgers so don't tell me no 10 million dollars you idiot.

I hope we don't need to go through the gom jabbar because I am basically a huge wuss.

"What's in the burger?"
"Pain."

[AlohaDawg]

Personally, I think that if you have that big a problem with cheese/dairy, you check the food. I'm kind of suspicious of this story because when I read it, the plaintiff insists that they mentioned it 5 times but didn't check the burger. I have trouble making sense of that. I'd be an unsympathetic juror for any award beyond the medical bills.

[linnea]

Folks with allergies, it sucks to be you.

I have probably the stupidest one, I'm allergic to watermelon. When I was younger I got a protein bar from a health food store, and shortly after eating it I broke out in hives. We checked the wrapper - watermelon EXTRACT in a PROTEIN BAR. Who'd have thunk it? Fortunately I don't get anaphylaxis (severe allergic reaction resulting in shock). I took a shit ton of Benadryl and went into a coma-like stupor from the meds. Problem solved.

When I was mentioning bringing my cats to Alaska on another messageboard, a guy was incredulous and said that I shouldn't be allowed to do that. Whaaaa? Apparently he's severely allergic to everything and therefore thinks the rest of the world has to operate around his esoteric allergies. A woman brought a kenneled pet onto a train where he was also a passenger and he damn near went into anaphylactic shock. Dude, I am sorry about your misfortune, but life goes on around you despite your allergy. If someone on any commercial flight is severely allergic, they would have a duty to notify the airline, in which case they would say, "I'm sorry, sir, there is already someone on this flight who has booked a cat for the cabin. We can accommodate you on another flight." or possibly they'd tell me that Lenny would have to travel in the cargo compartment and have a kitty heart attack, in which case I would be forced to choose another flight.

If someone has life-threatening allergies, you can't just do all the normal shit that normal people do.  I'm sorry to burst your bubble, allergy sufferers and Dairy Allergic Guy Who Hopes To Hit The Jackpot. Logic would have it that if you're violently allergic to peanuts, you would not eat at a Thai place because they use peanuts in almost everything. if you're violently allergic to dairy you would check everything before you ate it. This random person on the intarwub declares that it's your fault for not checking the burger. I'd wager that he ate it out of spite just to test the workers and hopefully win the lotto. Violently allergic to peanuts? Well, there are about a million places you can't eat and packaged products you cannot consume because they also process peanuts where the food is made. Like someone with celiac disease, you just gotta man up and party down with your special rice bread and homemade food. I'm sorry that life is so unbearably difficult for you.

[side_show]

They "scew you" at the "drive-though?"  I'm confused... is this supposed to be "screw" and "through" or is this something I'm not getting, like the way someone sounds when talking as their tongue swells up?

Anyway...

I call bullshit on this story too.  This guy assumed a huge personal risk by going to a place that serves his known allergen, then even more of a risk ordering a food item commonly served with his known allergen.  If he's so allergic that one bite could kill him, wouldn't the concerned of crosscontamination be enough of a reason for him to not eat at places that serve cheese in their food in the first place?  And anyone with 20 years of life experience should know that when you go to a restaurant, sometimes they screw up your order.  Do you know how many times I've ordered "no pickles" and the cashier has hit the "extra pickles" button instead?  Enough times that I always look inside my burger. 

I hate, hate, hate McDonald's, but they offered to pay half, and later all of this guy's medical bills, which is more than he deserves.  It all sounds a little suspicious anyway.  Eating in the dark?  And the story says they called the McDonald's before getting him medical help. 

The whole situation smacks of a total lack of common sense or intentional greedy ambush.

[smick]

Folks with allergies, it sucks to be you.

I have probably the stupidest one, I'm allergic to watermelon. When I was younger I got a protein bar from a health food store, and shortly after eating it I broke out in hives. We checked the wrapper - watermelon EXTRACT in a PROTEIN BAR. Who'd have thunk it? Fortunately I don't get anaphylaxis (severe allergic reaction resulting in shock). I took a shit ton of Benadryl and went into a coma-like stupor from the meds. Problem solved.

I'm right there with you, I'm allergic to Diphenhydramine.  That's got a good ironic quality to it.

[AugustWest]

I'm right there with you, I'm allergic to Diphenhydramine.  That's got a good ironic quality to it.

Now that's funny.  I hope that you are not allergic to tiny cans of Dr. Pepper.

[theinevitable]

I am a allergic to Sulfonamide. Apparently, according to wikipedia, this is pretty common.

[jay-ell]

They "scew you" at the "drive-though?"  I'm confused... is this supposed to be "screw" and "through" or is this something I'm not getting, like the way someone sounds when talking as their tongue swells up?

Heh, no, yes, you're right.  Apparently my "r" key requires a little extra effort. 

A little exta effot? 

Thanks for noticing.  It's fixed. 

[linnea]

I'm right there with you, I'm allergic to Diphenhydramine.  That's got a good ironic quality to it.

Oh noes! You are gonna be no fun in the back of an ambulance. If you were to require ambulance services for some other allergy, they would hopefully learn right off the bat that you're allergic to Benadryl, not give you any, and just keep you on epinephrine (adrenaline) until the hospital is reached.

I am a allergic to Sulfonamide. Apparently, according to wikipedia, this is pretty common.

I knew a girl in high school who was allergic to sulfa drugs and claimed that she was allergic all sulfur in general, such as matches. She would constantly bitch if someone lit a match. I was like...WTF? Sulfur is a trace element in your body. Just because you don't like the smell of sulfur/phosphate matches does not mean you are allergic to them. 

Approximately 3% of the general population have adverse reactions when treated with sulfonamide antimicrobials. Of note is the observation that patients with HIV have a much higher prevalence, at about 60%[1]. People who have a hypersensitivity reaction to one member of the sulfonamide class are likely to have a similar reaction to others.

Hypersensitivity reactions are less common in non-antibiotic sulfonamides, and, though controversial, the available evidence suggests those with hypersensitivity to sulfonamide antibiotics do not have an increased risk of hypersensitivity reaction to the non-antibiotic agents[2].

Two regions of the sulfonamide antibiotic chemical structure are implicated in the hypersensitivity reactions associated with the class.

    * The first is the N1 heterocyclic ring, which causes a type I hypersensitivity reaction.
    * The second is the N4 amino nitrogen that, in a stereospecific process, forms reactive metabolites that cause either direct cytotoxicity or immunologic response.

The non-antibiotic sulfonamides lack both of these structures

[theinevitable]

I remember, as a child, learning about Sulphur and vaguely thinking "aren't I allergic to that?" I later figured out it wasn't the same thing.

my Bestest Lady-Friend of a Non-Romantic Nature is a Silly-Yac (has celiac), in addition to having other slightly strange dietary problems. She is careful about it to the point of telling me I wasn't allowed to make her gluten-free brownies, because she would not eat them unless she watched me make them. I do not imagine that she would have eaten a burger without checking for cheese.

[Golfhaus]

When I was mentioning bringing my cats to Alaska on another messageboard, a guy was incredulous and said that I shouldn't be allowed to do that. Whaaaa? Apparently he's severely allergic to everything and therefore thinks the rest of the world has to operate around his esoteric allergies. A woman brought a kenneled pet onto a train where he was also a passenger and he damn near went into anaphylactic shock. Dude, I am sorry about your misfortune, but life goes on around you despite your allergy. If someone on any commercial flight is severely allergic, they would have a duty to notify the airline, in which case they would say, "I'm sorry, sir, there is already someone on this flight who has booked a cat for the cabin. We can accommodate you on another flight." or possibly they'd tell me that Lenny would have to travel in the cargo compartment and have a kitty heart attack, in which case I would be forced to choose another flight.

Actually, the rules that my airline follow (others may vary) are as follows:

If a cabin pet and an allergic passenger are on the same flight, and separating them is not acceptable to the allergic passenger, the airline forces the passenger with the cabin pet off of the airplane. We no longer let warm-blooded animals in our cargo bins, after a number of high-profile cases of them getting out of the cage inflight and jumping out of the cargo bin on landing and disappearing in the expanse of airport land.

If the animal in question is a service animal, however, then the allergic passenger is the one forced off the plane.

The reservations agent would probably not recognize, when booking an allergic passenger, the presence of pets. As most reservations functions have been outsourced, generally you're lucky if they get you to the right city.

[linnea]

Actually, the rules that my airline follow (others may vary) are as follows:

If a cabin pet and an allergic passenger are on the same flight, and separating them is not acceptable to the allergic passenger, the airline forces the passenger with the cabin pet off of the airplane. We no longer let warm-blooded animals in our cargo bins, after a number of high-profile cases of them getting out of the cage inflight and jumping out of the cargo bin on landing and disappearing in the expanse of airport land.

If the animal in question is a service animal, however, then the allergic passenger is the one forced off the plane.

The reservations agent would probably not recognize, when booking an allergic passenger, the presence of pets. As most reservations functions have been outsourced, generally you're lucky if they get you to the right city.

After the traumatizing flight that we went through coming home from AK, I vowed that I would never make them go through that again. So hopefully I will never be bringing another pet onto a plane. Alaska Airlines, who I always flew with, puts pets in the cargo hold.

Also, whenever I flew with them, they entered it into their flight information that I would be bringing a pet. Their policies allow a maximum of five small pets within the cabin, provided they fit under the seat in front of their human.

[Nabubrush]

After the traumatizing flight that we went through coming home from AK, I vowed that I would never make them go through that again. So hopefully I will never be bringing another pet onto a plane. Alaska Airlines, who I always flew with, puts pets in the cargo hold.

Also, whenever I flew with them, they entered it into their flight information that I would be bringing a pet. Their policies allow a maximum of five small pets within the cabin, provided they fit under the seat in front of their human.

I drove down with my cat. He does not endorse that method of travel.