...to see how much people could drink without going to the bathroom.

The POLICE are investigating to see if they can charge anyone with a crime!  The woman's family are, of course, preparing to sue the radio station that sponsored the contest.

The woman's death wasn't in vain.  Her family are the proud recipients of two tickets to a Justin Timberlake concert.  

Unfortunately, the deceased had ALREADY reproduced....

-- Modified on 1/18/2007 4:32:27 PM

Lots of radio talk shows were re-playing bits of the audio from the show.  First some nurse called in warning the contestants that they could become seriously ill or even die from water intoxication.  The DJ's joked that it wasn't a concern for them as all contestants had to sign waivers.  Then after the woman had drunk 1-1/2 gal of water, they gave her the opportunity to give it up for the Justin Timberlake tickets.  She pondered but then said no, so it was on to another 1/2 gal of water.  15 minutes later they went back to her and you could hear in her voice that she was suffering.  She said her head hurt real bad and one of the jocks made some comment that that's what it must feel like when 'you drowned'.  They then commented that she looked like shit and couldn't even walk.

Well at least I know that I had something in common with the poor lady.  We both would rather die than go to a Justin Timberlake concert.

Bwahahahahahahaha!  Sure, there are lots of people guilty of a crime... the crime? gross stupidity, along with the misdemeanor of ignorance - to mention nothing of a lack of common sense...

were I the police, I would charge everyone who ever had a hand in educating this woman - starting with her parents... right up to the last teacher she had in school!  this is just dumb, dumb dumb.

I agree. Someone called the show and warned them of the dangers. That had no effect. One of the DJ's even referrenced a case in which a college student died from water intoxication. It was laughed off. When the woman was interviewed following the contest, she stated that her head hurt, and her statements were clearly not coherent. Her evident problems elicited NO response, or concern for her safety.

Regardless of the woman's poor judgement, the DJ's were grossly negligent. In my thoroughly unlawyerly opinion of course - which along with $1.25 will get you a cup of coffee.

She showed up voluntarily, and under her own volition did this. They didn't force this woman to participate, they didn't tie her down and stick a fire hose down her throat.

As for the venue itself, while it's obviously a dumb idea, is it illegal in any way? There have been hot dog eating contests and such going on for ages which is very similar to this and nobody ever deemed them to be illegal in any way. I just can't see how this would be any different.

If they had proper medical attention onsite available for the participants, I'd imagine the radio station is guilty of being morons, not a crime.

have known that you were doing damage.  Eg, the recent bumfight videos.


What you got here is a frat party for ratings.

You know what happened here:  they were warned, but they all thought it was good clean fun, no big deal, and somebody died.   It ain't gonna hurt them to cool their heels in the can, and meditate on the smallness of their brains.


The solution is simple:  become preachers or politicians and get a free pass to do as much of this silly shit as you want.    

I hold the educational system responsible for the mother's death... she was obviously not prepared by the ed system to take care of herself - let alone her children.... what gets me?  walking down the street - and seeing a pregnant woman smoking.... or going into a bar - and seeing a pregnant woman drinking.... sheese... for those of you that have followed my rants on my ex... I will say one thing about her, she was very careful while pregnant - I mean to the point of not even walking into a room where someone was smoking... Our kids?  very healthy... growin like weeds...

So PP - the radiostation only offered the water... the lady herself drank it! and for that it is she who is negligent for her own health.

They joked that contestants could die but that was OK because they'd signed a release. They knew others had died from it. Did they tell contestants? Did they do any research about the dangers? Did they have medical personnel on site? I believe the answer to all was no, and I believe they had an obligation to do all those things.

Would you really expect your favorite radio station to encourage to you to do something that they KNEW might kill you and not even WARN you. Would you expect drinking a lot of water to threaten your life? I would not have, but the DJs knew people had died from it. They look liable as hell to me.

The station is KDND, and it calls itself "The End." Seems fitting.

driving a car, owning a gun, teaching, the practice of medicine, dentistry and law, opening an dining establishment, selling alcohol... etc.  Get the picture.  THE MOST SINGLE and IMPORTANT THING THAT WE DO - PASSING ON OUR KNOWLEDGE AND SOCIETY THROUGH OUR CHILDREN - is neither licensed nor are people adequately trained for the responsibility.  Why would any mother do something this grossly negligent and put the welfare of her kids behind her silly attemtp to win a stupid contest is beyond me.  Seriously, I really have to question the "right" that some exercise when they have kids.  They are simply not in the correct mind set.... and it does HARM to the kids.  AS I SAY - these kids deserve better - they got the short end of this stick - no matter who ya blame.

statistically, they will probably be bounced from one sort of foster home to another for the duration of their childhood - such as it is.

As I mention, courts don't always draw B&W lines along the idea of consent.   Here somebody died, despite warnings and acknowledgment of warnings, so the station could get ratings.  You know what happened - people were reckless.  Nobody thought there would be any harm, and they were wrong, and should have known it.   You know, thinking like "I'll pop a cap off it that direction, I don't think anybody is there, and take my chances on killing somebody if I'm wrong."

So how is that different from going bareback and transmitting HIV?  Same sort of recklessness, it seems to me.

Yeah, she was dumb.  She paid with her life.  So were the DJs, and it ain't gonna hurt them to meditate on their fuckup as guests of the state.      

Waivers are effective against negligence, but not usually against recklessness (sometimes called gross negligence) because it's equated to intentional.  That's pretty well settled, for good reason.  This may be the 1st time TER members see this sort of thing, and maybe they are fumbling their way thru; but it's not the 1st time it's gotten into court.

Of course, everything will eventually depend on the facts established in investigation and perhaps trial.  

IMHO, this is sorta like the bumfight dustup a year or so ago.   Except there, consequences were more obvious to the bums, and IMHO, more clearly subject to a waiver.

Meanwhile, TER members should not be getting the idea that it's alright to be stupid because the right words or documents can get you off.

Consuming water sounds like it should be safe enough.  Not to say the survivors should be sued, but apparently they will be.  I hope they win, but no doubt they wouldn't have tried this if they had a clear idea of the danger.  A career or two will be ended at least, and as it will lower their incomes and put them at a competitive disadvantage, so that will also be natural selection at work.  

She should have been more cautious, or perhaps she was a little suicidal, I don't know.  Why an additional half-gallon?  Couldn't she have gone with just a pint or two?  Then waited?

I swam out to a rock and back.  I really didn't think I was going to make it back.  Everybody else I was with did that too.  One woman showed off by swimming it very slowly and then treading water.  As I think back on it, one of us might have died.  It might have been me.  

I was severely hypothermic afterward and had to walk the rest of the way down a mountain, including sliding down a glacier.

Somehow, Darwin forgave me and everybody else on that trip.

We've met only a couple of times, but I remember you being a much kindler, gentler guy than this.

The decedent/mother entered the contest to try to win the Nintendo toy for her kids. She wanted to provide something for her children that maybe she couldn't afford. Taking your side of it the best I can, ok, maybe it's silly and a little misguided, but it was noble and shouldn't be fatal.

This is a wrongful death lawsuit, worth $2-$5M, waiting to happen. Water intoxication is a significantly higher risk that indicated, and certainly the radio station's employees knew of potential risks-and laughed them off on air(in legal speak, that means punitives).

It's a really sad story, and an unnecessary one. Why is this amusing to you?

Criminal liability may be difficult to prove.

OTOH, civil liability is VERY easy to prove in this case.  It starts with the DJs being vaguely aware that drinking so much water is dangerous, as they said on the radio.  Next, they received multiple warnings from callers with medical backgrounds that what they're doing is dangerous.  Finally, a DJ says on-air that maybe they should have researched this first.

That's a slam-dunk case for negligence in a civil court.  They didn't research the potential dangers that they thought might exist, and when they found out it was dangerous they let the contest continue and did not seek medical attention for the people they enticed to endanger themselves.

Also, your comparison to a hot dog contest is off.  Eating obscene quantities of hot dogs wont kill you (as long as you don't choke on them).

The victim's free will does not excuse the DJ's liability.  The DJ's had access to more information that it was dangerous, and the DJ's were offering the enticement.  It's as if I offered you $5k to run across a highway that looked empty, but I knew there's tons of speeding traffic just over a hill.

After the contest was over, the woman was interviewed. In her interview, she stated her head hurt, and her speech was altered enough that it should have been a red flag to someone that all was not well with her. Yet it raised no alarm bells, no one for a moment thought to suggest she seek medical attention. They let a woman leave on her own who was clearly displaying problems. That to me, is the worst mistake of all. They were aware of potential risks, had ample opportunity to notice her odd speech, and yet did nothing.

It would be a fundamental shift not just in state power, but in human evolution.  It would be a transition for a humanity from being a social animal to being more like a hive.  

A shift like that doesn't happen without-- some very stringent Darwinism, if you know what I mean.  

If the grieving heirs are poised to sue for $2 - $5M and their current fiscal situation is one where a prize of a $300.00 Nintendo game was one worthy of ignoring the public warnings aired on the radio I'd say the mothers sacrifice though extremely selfless was "extremely" profitable.

My heart goes out to the kids.  No matter what - they have to live with this tragedy that was totally unavoidable.  Which is why my previous rant.  We seem to have a society more and more, that fails to take responsibility for its actions.  This starts with the mom who smokes, drinks and does crack while pregnant, and goes all the way to a pres who lies about what he does with those under his charge (depending on whether you are repub or demo, pick either a soldier or Lewinsky)....

We have to get away from that mentality.  Yea, I hobby, I know the risk.  It is a calculated decision.  

AS I say, I really don't pity the DJs- what they get, is what they get, I don't pity the woman - she was a grown woman, and acted stupidly.  I pity the kids, they have lost a parent...  and as pointed out above, it ain't gonna be pretty for them from now on.