Topic: So apparently the Hold Your Wii victim's family made 16 mil...

Cheez, dying or Justin Timberlake. Not many options there, huh?

@Burning Spear: i could make a joke about preferring death to a Justin Timberlake concert anyway, but it would be in poor taste and I'm sure we're both above that.

Yeah the money awarded is excessive but I don't see why people would get all upset over that when there is so much other stuff that is upsetting - including the fact that someone had to die from a stupid radio contest. I mean if someone only got a minor injury and got millions of dollars I could see being jealous but when someone lost a family member I couldn't see that.

Most people aren't really aware of the water toxicity thing since actual deaths due to it are such a rarity. I've only even seen this issue even come up maybe 2 other times in my life. It seems like such an absurd thing that someone would actually die from what seems like a harmless thing.
However, once they djs were warned that the contest could result in death they should have actually tried to look into it or someone should have questioned continuing. The fact that they laughed it off and said they couldn't get sued is kinda sickening. They were fired but they (and possibly other radio employees) should have gotten criminal charges.

Hate, Hippie? Really? What happened to peace and love - or did they go the way of personal responsibility, too?

C'mon, you can't blame this one squarely on "the man" just as I can't pin it solely on the woman. There's enough culpability to share between them (though I still take heart in the many who had enough good sense and responsibility to neither compete nor die in this ill-conceived contest).

^can we still blame El Nino? I remember that being quite popular...

@Swerd_Murd: wow, that's an old one, lol.

Whilst the radio station were guilty of creating an idiotic and dangerous competition, the lady in question took part willingly. Nobody forced her to do it, it was a conscious decision made by no-one but herself. There shouldn't have been any damages awarded, never mind the obscene amount that was.

to the people talking about personal responsibility: you do realize that dead people can't take responsibility right? Plus, I don't expect family member to take pot shots at the dead and be like "yeah she was stupid for doing that contest its all her fault"

In any case someone who makes a contest has a responsibility to make it safe for contestants, and in the event it is not safe inform contestants of the possible dangers. Plus if someone is warned that people could die (as the djs were) I would think they have a moral obligation to at the very least inform the contestants at that point of the dangers of continuing.

By the way, the topic title is a bit disturbing. They "made" 16 million? Wouldn't awarded be more appropiate?

@NewAgeRetroHippie

I smell too much liberal drivel from you to see you're never going to understand what "taking your own responsiblitiy" means. Pick me up some of that government cheese next time you're in line please.

@Jbrodack

Maybe the family members don't take pot shots by saying "Yes, she should've been smarter than that", but it obviously didn't stop them from taking advantage of a lawsuit (I'm sure it's in her honor) in her name.

1. I could see this as a "Hold your breath the longest and win a Wii contest" and somebody dies because they don't want to come up for air.
2. Brain damage can occure in 6-10 minutes. So the choking from eating too many hotdogs too fast isn't too far fetched. Help available or not.
3. Weight lifting contests have accidents all the time. Even during the olympics where there's tons of medical staff available.
4. Do I need to speak of the dangers from professional sports ie...football, boxing? Paralysis, brain damage? (Oh, but they get paid soo much already rolls eyes)

@greyelephant: not only do the people in your examples have professional medical help available at all times (and i fail to believe there would be absolutely no one present at your hotdog contest who knew CPR and/or the heimlich maneuver), people in professional sports and participating in the olympics are continually aware of the dangers of their sport(s), and some are even trained as to what to do in case of an emergency (as in lie still, don't try to move, make this signal if you can, etc.). The people running the olympics and professional sports also take things very seriously, and instead of laughing off their contestants'/players' concerns and distress like those DJs did, they have procedures in place and medics/doctors on-hand, and they would have stopped immediately and had them checked out, they would've made sure the person/people in question is/are okay before proceeding to allow them to continue on with what they were doing.

The point here is that the DJs/station higher-ups knew of the dangers inherent in this contest, they did not consult a doctor beforehand for advice even though they knew of the dangers, they did not warn the participants beforehand of the dangers of what they were about to do (nor did the woman in question sign off on a waiver as they claimed), they did not have adequate medical staff on hand to monitor the participants, they continued to encourage the participants to hold their urine in even though some of them (including the woman who died) were in distress and already complaining of symptoms of water intoxication, and they laughed off a nurse who called in to the show and warned them that their contest could turn out deadly. Had they even bothered to warn the woman and have her go to the hospital after the contest was over and she'd come in second, which would certainly have been a douchebag move in and of itself, she may have survived... but hindsight is 20/20, and now they're paying through the nose for it. If they had at the very least been warned beforehand of the dangers of water intoxication, you might have a point, but according to the complaint that was filed (and how the trial went, apparently), they were not.

I totally agree that the radio station was at fault, but surely prison sentences for involuntary manslaughter would be more fitting than a financial payout. I can't get round the fact that this lady volunteered for the contest, and it seems strange to me that family members should benefit, from her lack of common sense. The company is found liable, and forced to pay out a massive amount, while the people who were actually responsible for the poor ladies death, simply loose their jobs. No fair!

This, exactly.

Using Gatorade or Powerade could have captured the spirit of the contest without being nearly as deadly =/

Anyway, put me in the same camp as NARH and TBD. Most people don't know about water intoxication. The radio station knew about it and went ahead with the contest anyway.

Have the radio station confirmed they knew about it? What makes you think they did?

Let's not kid yourself: personal responsibility has nothing to do with liberal or conservative ideals, even if you consider it "drivel".

I think the court ruling against them should answer that well enough.

I like reading this thread with the New Age Retro Hippie battle theme playing in my head.

V used the protractor!

But nothing happened.