I'm not a fan of fast food, but these lawsuits are ridiculous. People should have the freedom to eat - or overeat - whatever they want.

Of course, it would be nice if the obese took full responsibility for their own actions/inaction and paid for their own medical care, instead of demanding that the rest of us shell out $93 billion a year to treat their self-inflicted health problems.

And yet, before we start organizing a "freedom of fries" movement :) let's read this article carefully.

"A recent study tying obese patients to skyrocketing Medicare and Medicaid costs is the “smoking gun” lawyers and bureaucrats need to drive the fast food industry into submission, critics of the report say."

"Critics" are the first people quoted, creating a much more sensational headline than if FOX had, uncharacteristically, chosen to just cover the report factually.

Also "tying to" is a long way from saying that obesity is even a MAJOR factor in the "skyrocketing" costs (which are, in fact, "skyrocketing" because the Baby Boomers are entering their Medicaid years).

I find the entire tone of the article sensationalist and biased.

However.

The bottom line is that bad eating habits and a lack of regular exercise are major contributors to a lot of chronic illnesses all over the world. That's just the truth. Fast food is only a fraction of the problem, as any reputable physician or health care organization will tell you. (In fact, the lack of regular exercise is a much bigger problem than eating Whoppers.)

I do agree with you, though. No one's forcing anyone into Taco Bell to eat burritos and I'm sick of people who pretend otherwise.

I'm not overly concerned about the article. What worries me is that the trial lawyers will attempt to use this to make money for themselves at the cost of personal freedom for the rest of us. The Texas legislature has already passed legislation requiring restaurants to post every scintilla of nutritional information on their menus. If give it less than a year for a trial lawyer to sue some major franchise for failing to abide by the law.

I'm a big fan of personal responsibility. We're all adults here, and we're capable of making our own decisions. If someone chooses to eat too much or exercise too little, the government shouldn't have the power to force them to do otherwise. I'm not as much upset about the fast food issue as I am about the larger issue: forcing businesses to only provide choices that are deemed 'acceptable.' Is that really freedom?

At one park in a town in Wisconsin, there were signs everywhere that clearly stated that any injures resulting from accidents during the performing of personal behavior, i.e., riding a bike, rollerblading, skateboarding, was not the responsibility of the town. Now this made sense to me.

But you know what really gets my goat (Rick, go back to your dog! Geesh....) is the warning about coffee being hot! If you do not realize coffee is hot, you are in need of some serious therapy.

Yes, you are so very right. It seems as though no one likes to take responsiblity for their own actions, and there is always someone else responsible... "being responsible for your own misfortunes is just not right..." people need to grow up and take charge!