WASHINGTON – As obesity-related health care costs continuing climb, lawyers are urging at least 16 state attorneys general to make major food industry companies to pay for those costs, Politico reports.
“I believe that this is the most promising strategy to lighten the economic burden of obesity on states and taxpayers and to negotiate broader public health policy objectives,” said Paul McDonald, a partner at Valorem Law Group in Chicago, who has undertaken the recruitment effort.
McDonald’s firm has sent proposals to attorneys general detailing how suing major food manufacturers could alleviate budget gaps caused by rising Medicaid expenditures. None have agreed to move forward.
The food industry sharply opposes the notion that they are responsible (and should therefore pay) to address the nation’s obesity crisis.
“Regulation through litigation is not an effective or appropriate mechanism for policymaking,” said Ginny Smith Clemenko, senior director of communications at the Grocery Manufacturers Association. “Proponents of bans, taxes and lawsuits as a means to curb obesity don’t truly understand the nature of the problem and lack the collaborative vision shared by first lady Michelle Obama and the vast majority of stakeholders who are working passionately to solve it.”
Clemenko noted that food and beverage companies have introduced 20,000 healthier products over the past decade while removing full-calorie drinks from schools.
Meanwhile, obesity policy experts maintain McDonald’s plan is practical and achievable.
“I don’t think it’s far-fetched at all,” said Kelly Brownell, dean of Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy. “I think it’s quite likely to occur. . . It’s probably not something that will happen immediately, but I don’t think it’s that far off.”
Bruce Silverglade, a principal at Olsson Frank Weeda Terman Matz, warned food industry attorneys that lawsuits will focus on “food addiction,” a legal theory pioneered by former FDA Commissioner David Kessler.
“If certain fats, sugars, and salt were ‘addictive,’ and companies nonetheless proceeded to market products containing those nutrients … the consumer class action bar could attempt discovery in hoping to find company documents that validate Kessler’s addiction theory,” Silverglade said.
Meanwhile, McDonald’s pitch has drawn the ire of the Chamber of Commerce, as his firm’s letter references a contingency fee agreement, which would allow cash-strapped AG offices to sue without assuming a substantial financial risk.
“Pay-to-play relationships between [plaintiff’s attorneys and attorneys general] that exchange campaign contributions for lucrative government lawsuit contracts mean the food industry has a big target on its back,” said Lisa Rickard, president of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform.