Kucinich must be giving up on politics.

[Shea]

That's the only way to explain his $150 K lawsuit against a cafeteria that allegedly served him an olive with a pit in it. Yes, dental work is expensive -- but not that expensive! As a perceptive DUer said, he's going to be the new poster boy for tort reform.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/...a-pn-ku...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) is suing the operators of a House cafeteria for alleged negligence stemming from a 3-year-old incident involving a sandwich he says left him with significant dental injuries.

Kucinich is seeking $150,000 in damages from companies that run the cafeteria in the Longworth House Office Building and the providers that service it. According to the District of Columbia Superior Court, the case was filed on Jan. 3, and a hearing has been scheduled for April 8.

A copy of the suit obtained by the Cleveland Plain Dealer documents the April 2008 incident, in which Kucinich purchased a sandwich wrap he says was "represented to contain pitted olives." After consuming it, Kucinich found the olives were not pitted, causing "serious and permanent dental and oral injuries" that required "multiple surgical and dental procedures."

SNIP

[atomic]

Several Republicans and their spouses have sued places like dry cleaners, etc. Their hypocrisy is epic and they have no shame.

Dennis isn't the one bellyaching about tort reform. Dennis is a stand-up guy and it is reasonable to believe this is a stand-up claim.

[sandnsea]

I don't know the details, but sometimes the insurance won't pay if someone else is responsible. Dennis doesn't have any money that I know of and if his health insurance insists on holding the responsible party liable, I don't think he's got a lot of choice but to cooperate.

[Shea]

I understand that he's not a wealthy guy, and I'd expect him to put a claim in for his dental costs. But he's asking for one hundred and fifty thousand dollars -- many times what his treatment must have cost. The reason the number is so high is that he's asking for reimbursement for pain, suffering, etc. And he wants to be compensated for an injury due to a pit -- which is a normal thing that you should be careful to watch for every time you eat an olive, cherry, grape, etc. It's not like he broke a tooth on a piece of glass or some other foreign object.

[Cha]

(01-26-2011 06:29 PM)Shea Wrote:  I understand that he's not a wealthy guy, and I'd expect him to put a claim in for his dental costs. But he's asking for one hundred and fifty thousand dollars -- many times what his treatment must have cost. The reason the number is so high is that he's asking for reimbursement for pain, suffering, etc. And he wants to be compensated for an injury due to a pit -- which is a normal thing that you should be careful to watch for every time you eat an olive, cherry, grape, etc. It's not like he broke a tooth on a piece of glass or some other foreign object.

Hi Shea, I went to the link to see what it had to say about it and it appears to be broken..but, I'd read before that Dennis bit into a sandwich and found an olive pit. It does seem like a lot of money though and I'm interested in what proof he has from back then to make his case?

[Andy823]

So doesn't his government health care plan pay for his dental work, or at least most of it?

I know dental work is not cheap, but damn $150,000 is really a bit much if you ask me especially if his plan helped pay for it, or paid for all of it!

[Cha]

(01-26-2011 08:25 PM)Andy823 Wrote:  So doesn't his government health care plan pay for his dental work, or at least most of it?

I know dental work is not cheap, but damn $150,000 is really a bit much if you ask me especially if his plan helped pay for it, or paid for all of it!

That's right! I do forget about those things that our Gov employees are provided with.

[Treestar]

We used to sue for one million to make sure we were up above anything we could possibly get. If a jury gave your client $150,000 and you had only sued for $100,000, it would be a malpractice suit. The amount sued for is therefore meaningless, in fact, it's pretty low. You never know what can happen with these cases, so it's wise to ask for the moon in the complaint.

If he can prove negligence and medical causation, it's a good case and Dennis has as much right as anyone else to sue someone for damages caused by their negligence.

[Cha]

(01-27-2011 09:04 AM)Treestar Wrote:  We used to sue for one million to make sure we were up above anything we could possibly get. If a jury gave your client $150,000 and you had only sued for $100,000, it would be a malpractice suit. The amount sued for is therefore meaningless, in fact, it's pretty low. You never know what can happen with these cases, so it's wise to ask for the moon in the complaint.

If he can prove negligence and medical causation, it's a good case and Dennis has as much right as anyone else to sue someone for damages caused by their negligence.

Oh. Well, that's enlightening since I've never had any experience in that department. Thank you, Treestar~

[Drunken Irishman]

(01-27-2011 09:04 AM)Treestar Wrote:  We used to sue for one million to make sure we were up above anything we could possibly get. If a jury gave your client $150,000 and you had only sued for $100,000, it would be a malpractice suit. The amount sued for is therefore meaningless, in fact, it's pretty low. You never know what can happen with these cases, so it's wise to ask for the moon in the complaint.

If he can prove negligence and medical causation, it's a good case and Dennis has as much right as anyone else to sue someone for damages caused by their negligence.

That's the problem, though, isn't it - trying to get as much money as possible out of a situation that doesn't warrant such an obscene number?

The ultimately issue here is that, once again, a posterboy for liberal politics looks absolutely tone deaf. Does he really need to sue? Now it's going to be splashed around about how ridiculous and frivolous this lawsuit is and it'll just add more fodder to the Republicans who want to push through Tort Reform. Worse of all - is the Longworth Cafeteria run by the government and if so, does that mean a potential settlement comes out of tax payer dollars?

Regardless, an incredibly stupid move by a politician.

[KonaKane]

I feel kinda bad for Kuch. A long time ago, I actually used to be a fan because he looked like the man of principle willing to give a living breathing face to something more left wing than Hitler. But today it looks like the fall of an icon. Sad.

He should go on the speaking and book signing circuit.

[Hekate]

I don't have experience with lawsuits, thank goodness, but I do have experience with extensive dental work -- mine.

Kucinich and I are of a generation whose dentists drilled deep and often. My kids had their molars sealed in early adolescence because of deep natural fissures and never experienced this; in infancy and childhood they also had fluoride. They have very, very few fillings from decay. My sibs and I brushed and flossed like anything, and still we ended up with large fillings in every molar.

By my mid-30s the "walls" around the fillings in my teeth were relatively thin and there were hairline cracks to boot. Around 37 I bit into something in some homemade currant bread a friend gave me -- possibly a tiny stone masquerading as a currant -- and voila, the first of many gold crowns. I have lost count of the root canals. 'Taint cheap, but at least our insurance pays some of it.

If Dennis has a hard bite (my dad's was kind of spasmodic) and old cracks in his teeth he could have done himself quite a bit of damage on the olive pit. He's claiming oral surgery and so forth -- it's possible this was something that just cascaded, going from a broken tooth to an abscess and on and on.

Mind you, this is as much speculation as anything else said in this thread, but since none of us seems to have the whole story anyway I just thought I'd throw it out there for consideration.