A Federal court in New York has ruled that McDonald's will have to face an obesity lawsuit after all. The appellate judges reinstated part of a case brought by plaintiffs who charged the company's food caused their medical problems.
At issue is whether McDonald's, as the plaintiffs charge, tried to create the impression that its food was nutritionally beneficial and part of a healthy lifestyle if consumed daily. The plaintiffs, some of them children, charged that food from McDonald's made them obese and led to health problems, such as diabetes and heart disease.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated claims made by the parents that McDonald's violated a section of New York state's Consumer Protection Act by engaging in deceptive advertising over the health benefits of its fast food.
U.S. District Judge Robert W Sweets originally dismissed the action, which sought to make McDonald's pay billions of dollars in damages.
McDonald's has dismissed the suit as frivolous and maintains its advertising is and was accurate. A company spokesman said the key issue for consumers is making informed choices, and that McDonald's provides the information on which to base those decisions.
The case drew national attention when it was first filed. Some critics lashed out at the plaintiffs for blaming McDonald's for the eating habits of their own children, seeing the suit as an example of a culture of litigation and victimhood.
The plaintiffs' children had eaten at McDonald's between three and five time a week between 1987 and 2002 and, allegedly because of McDonald's deception, did not know that its food could cause their obesity, diabetes, heart disease, high-blood pressure and elevated cholesterol levels.
