The first lawsuits against fatty-food sellers were justifiably the subject of parody, but a few months later, without plaintiffs having won a single case, a USA Today front-page article treats the idea of big damages awards as a near-inevitable outcome, quoting two plaintiffs’ lawyers, and without a single quote from anyone suggesting that such lawsuits may not be good public policy. Such coverage has a tendency, of course, to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Filed under: media bias, obesity