Posted on 01/18/2007 5:09:34 PM PST by NormsRevenge
Lawyers for the family of a woman who died after drinking nearly two gallons of water in an on-air radio contest said Thursday they will file a wrongful death lawsuit to make an example out of the station and attempt to curb the recklessness of shock jock radio.
"We believe we can get a judgment that people across the country will have to pay attention to," said Roger Dreyer, a personal injury lawyer who accused radio station KDND-FM of knowing of the dangers of the water-drinking contest but continuing anyway.
He charged that the contest that preceded the death of 28-year-old Jennifer Lea Strange, a mother of three from the Sacramento suburb of Rancho Cordova, was nothing more than a ratings stunt designed to boost profits.
"Outrageousness at any cost has become the industry standard - the trashier and more humiliating the better," Dreyer said. "It's time to stop the recklessness."
Dreyer said the lawsuit would likely be filed within days, after a private memorial service for Strange this weekend, and following a determination by lawyers about which station employees - and perhaps which companies in addition to the station - should be named in the suit.
He would not specify how much in damages the suit would seek.
Charles Sipkins, spokesman for KDND's parent company, Entercom/Sacramento, declined to comment on Dreyer's remarks since a lawsuit has not yet been filed.
Thursday's announcement followed revelations Wednesday that the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department had launched a criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding Strange's death.
Authorities decided to pursue the investigation after listening to a tape of the Jan. 12 "Morning Rave" show that was obtained by The Sacramento Bee. On the tape, disc jockeys can be heard joking about the possible dangers of consuming too much water. They even alluded to a Chico State University student who died during a hazing stunt in 2005 after drinking large amounts of water.
At one point a listener called in to warn the DJs that the stunt could be fatal.
"Yeah, we're aware of that," one of them responded.
Another DJ laughed: "Yeah, they signed releases, so we're not responsible. We're OK."
The object of the contest was to see how much water contestants could drink without going to the bathroom. The top prize was a Nintendo Wii gaming console. The DJs called the contest "Hold your Wee for a Wii."
Several hours into the program, Strange was interviewed and complained that her head hurt.
"They keep telling me that it's the water. That it will tell my head to hurt and then it will make me puke," she said.
"This is what it feels like when you're drowning," responded one of the DJs. "There's a lot of water inside you."
Eventually, Strange gave up and accepted the second-place prize, tickets to a Justin Timberlake concert.
Dreyer, senior partner of the Sacramento law firm Dreyer, Babich, Buccola & Callaham, said he had requested a copy of the release DJs spoke of on the radio but had not yet received it from Entercom.
Sipkins declined to comment on the status of that request.
KDND on Tuesday fired 10 employees connected to the contest, including the three "Morning Rave" disc jockeys. The company also took the show off the air.
Dreyer said the family is devastated by the loss of Strange, whose children are ages 11 months, 3 years and 11 years old.
"They're without their mother," Dreyer said. "One of their motivations in coming to me is they don't want to see this happen again."
What a strange way to die. I once ate a whole watermelon and was sick for Two days.
By giving you those salty chips, your friend might have killed you. Decades ago, the medical profession decreed that giving salt in any form under your type of circumstances could trigger some sort of cardiac event; including a heart attack. That's why salt tablets are no longer available. Had that happened to you (and I'm glad it didn't) would you or your friend be responsible for your death? Would you want your relatives taking your friend to court and suing for your death?
My bad.
I agree. But she made the choice to do that. There was a case a few years ago in Florida (I think; not sure) of a kid who inadvertently drowned himself (according to the autopsy report) by drinking 8 8-oz. glasses of water in about a minute after playing outside. Should the family have sued the public water utility?
Granted, prior to hearing of that kid's death, I had never heard of drowning yourself that way, but this turned out to be a tragic accident.
So, you're telling me that the DJs are also physicians and this is their second job? They offered an opinion, NOT medical advice. You know the saying, "Opinions are like belly-buttons, everybody's got one." Bottom line, each of us is responsible for ourselves and our own well-being . . . . NOT the government, NOT a radio station DJ, NOT the bartender at your favorite watering hole, NOT the newspaper or pizza delivery person . . . . . . WE have that obligation to protect ourselves.
But, if you think it's someone else's responsibility, you're going to LOVE HillaryCare.
I hate lawyer's speak.
The children haven't expressed that concern, I assure you. They want their mother back. And they can't conceive how the money will help them in the future. They're too young.
That said, they'll probably win.
Is this going to have an effect on those hot dog eating contests? Those are about the sickest events I have ever seen....or since hotdogs don't affect the electolytes then there is no problem? Just up-chucking?
If I were on that jury I'm fairly sure I would see it the way you do. If the waiver she signed included a statement such as "I am aware that this contest could kill me", then that's an admission that the station and DJ's knew they were putting their contestants at risk of death, as they also stated during the show. Gross indifference to their safety and callous disregard of their lives, all for the sake of ratings. Disgusting! If they didn't tell them the risk to their lives it could be even worse. Either way, just losing their jobs is only the beginning of the penalties for them.
A young mother has lost her life and three children will have to grow up without her, so sad. I can't believe some of the cold-hearted, unsympathetic callousness shown by some replies on this thread.
Hyponatremia has nothing to do with how much water one person drinks in comparison to another person or how long you "hold it".
Hyponatremia has everything to do with the degree that the sodium concentration in your bloodstream is diluted by the free water. Plasma sodium levels below 2.3 grams per liter result in cerebral edema, seizures, coma and death.
The amount of free water that will kill a 120 pound woman will be less than the amount of free water that will kill a 150 pound woman.
A free water drinking contest is as inherently dangerous as a table salt eating contest.
If you get on the radio, tell your listeners that your water drinking contest "is not inherently deadly" and somebody dies, you will get sued at best or, at worst, you will be prosecuted for involuntary manslaughter or for murder depending on what the investigation proves about what you knew and when you knew it.
A guy sued because he viewed a reality TV "Fear Factor" rat-eating episode.
I've frequently made similar agreements and have signed those releases, as was made in this case. However, the situation never included a real instance of willful gross negligence, or callous indiffence to safety and life, on anyone's part. In this case it clearly did and that's what makes the difference.
" A young mother has lost her life and three children will have to grow up without her, so sad."
Yes it is. I don't think she knew what she was getting into at all.
I think you meant that sarcastically but, in all candor it possibly could. Radio stunts and contests pushed by DJs who are trying to be more outrageous are taking things into "Jackass" land. Station managers really need to pay more attention to the stunts their DJs pull and they need to decide which is more important to them - ratings or the potential for injury and death.
We have people in this country whose IQs would increase by 150% if they actually had s__t for brains!! These are the nimrods who try to emulate stunts they see in movies, especially those of "Jackass". How many idiots died or were seriously injured trying to duplicate the stunts from the original made for morons movie, "Jackass"? Apparently, they didn't kill off enough of their moronic fans because they have a sequel. The same holds true for the stupid stunts the radio stations are allowed to be performed under their umbrella.
I don't necessarily believe that everyone should be protected from their own stupidity such as this case. But, for their own protection, station managers need to rein in their DJs and need to be "in the loop" on some of the outrageous stunts they are advertising on the air.
Correct!
FDR's reign lasted from the time of the Great Depression in 1933 until the Contract with America in 1994. 41 years. 41 years of liberalism that is bringing this country to the brink of existence.
Before FDR, Strange was simply an unfortunate, or less temperately, an idiot. Today she's a victim.
Prior to FDR, public radio was a civil affair of news, higher culture and information. After metatastisization of the liberal cancer Roosevelt introduced into our culture, the public airways have become a melange, including enticements for the public to commit suicide to increase the popularity and/or notoriety of a radio station.
Those are my words, not those of the radio station, and when I say that it is not inherently deadly, I mean that it won't automatically kill you. Your risk level depends on your body, and apparently hers was less able to tolerate that amount of water than your average individual.
This thread is about the civil and criminal liability of individuals who publicly encourage others to engage in potentially deadly behavior. ( "Fly out the window like Superman, kids!!") If a death occurs, the liability ranges from civil lawsuit to involuntary manslaughter if it is done out of stupidity to murder if you knew what you were doing.
The words of these particular DJ's were much worse than your words. They were warned on the air that excessive water drinking might cause death.
"Yeah, we're aware of that," one of them responded.
Another DJ laughed: "Yeah, they signed releases, so we're not responsible. We're OK."
A prosecutor might seek manslaughter or even second degree murder.
Your words merely show a total lack of understanding of the causes and danger of hyponatremia. If you were the DJ, the worst the an honest prosecutor would seek would be involuntasry manslaughter.
I understand the causes and dangers of hyponatremia because, as an M.D., disregarding what an patient's sodium levels are and inappropriately using D5W IV's instead of Normal Saline IV's is one of the easiest ways we can kill a patient.
The human body needs to have the sodium (salt) concentration between a certain very narrow range.
If it becomes too salty beyond a certain point, you die.
If it becomes too diluted beyond a certain point, you die.
A person with two healthy kidneys can excrete about 900 ml (0.24 galllons) of free water per hour.
So, without sodium supplementation, any amount of free water above a quater of a gallon per hour goes directly towards the dilution of the sodium concentration in your body no matter what a perfect physical specimen you may be.
This contestant drank about two gallons of water leaving seven quarts of water to dilute her total body sodium.
With the help of one of my nephrology colleagues, we can get you into a lab and infuse two or three or four gallons of water into you and, with playing around with electrolyte replacement, very careful monitoring blood serum electrolyte levels, Lasix, etc. we can have all sorts of fun trying to see how much of a total volume of water we can tolerate before we burn up your kidneys.
However, if we just use two to three gallons worth of sterile, non-saline water IV's, we will kill you. I gurantee it.
I just looked at a med text regarding water intoxication. The show's stunt was inherently deadly. IMO it's the equivalent of a fight to the death. Had a doc been consulted first a reasonable person would never expose themselves to this. Even an EMT should have known this was deadly, even if in a vague way.
No. As I said, those concepts are Biblical and were contained in English common law. This contest was the equivalent of dueling. I looked at it in a med text. It can be said with certainty that anyone doing this is likely to die, not unlikely to die. Realistically from a scientific standpoint, this contest amounts to "lets see who can live through it". Dueling was outlawed in this country before FDR and this contest is the equivalent, except for motivation and the hidden danger.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.