‘Ridiculous Lawsuits’ Are No Laughing Matter

NEWSMAX

A Florida doctor was hospitalized with severe abdominal pains after eating an entire grilled artichoke at a restaurant, then sued the restaurant for not telling him he wasn’t supposed to eat the outer leaves.

That’s just number five on a list of the “Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of 2010” compiled by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR), an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

“While many of these lawsuits are humorous and others quite troubling, the damage inflicted by abusive litigation is very real,” said ILR President Lisa Rickard.

“More litigation is something we can ill afford in this troubled economy that desperately needs more jobs, not more lawsuits.”

Topping the list of the “Most Ridiculous” is the suit filed by a West Virginia woman against Oprah Winfrey, George W. Bush, Laura Bush, and three doctors. She claimed the physicians implanted a 3-D camera and a wire sensor inside her during surgery, and the defendants were monitoring her 24 hours a day through the camera.

Number two is the suit filed by a Montana girl who tried to commit suicide by driving into oncoming traffic. The resulting crash killed a four-months-pregnant woman and her 13-year-old son. The suit, filed against the pregnant victim’s estate, alleged that the woman inflicted mental pain and suffering by causing the crash.

Number three was filed by an incarcerated killer after a Massachusetts judge rejected his request for electrolysis as part of a state-funded sex change.

Number four was filed by a Wisconsin teacher who pleaded guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old boy in her home, then sued the boy’s parents for failing to protect the child from her.

Her claim “represents convoluted reasoning reminiscent of Lewis Carroll,” a court declared. “We will not follow down the rabbit hole and open the door for a child molester to sue the victim’s parents for their failure to lock their child away or for their ineffectiveness in trying to stop the child from being sexually abused.”

Another lawsuit cited by the ILR was filed by an Oregon man who claimed police destroyed the mystical powers of his medicine bag when they opened it during his drunk driving arrest.