Doctor's Artichoke Lawsuit Is One To Gag On...

Even Stymie knew how to eat an artichoke--or better yet how NOT to eat one.


Apparently, however, this life lesson was lost on a Florida doctor, who ordered an artichoke at a restaurant, and ate the entire thing.

Not suprisingly, he developed severe abdominal problems, and is now suing the restaurant for failing to warn him how to properly eat an artichoke.

This is a stupid lawsuit and one that should and will go nowhere. Although lawsuits like this are not the norm, the media loves them for their zany and headline grabbing effects. Somewhat ironic is the fact that it is a physician who's bringing this lawsuit. Physicians as a group are generally "anti-lawsuit" and groups like The AMA have spent millions lobbying for relief from medical malpractice lawsuits, and tighter sanctions for what they deem to be "frivolous lawsuits."

Which leads me to my working definition of a "frivolous lawsuit" in the eyes of the public: one other than my own. My guess is if this same physician had read about someone else choking down an entire artichoke, he would have laughed it off as frivolous. Of course, this is only my opinion. I could be wrong. What do you think?

More than anything else, I'm thrilled that I found a way to work a Little Rascals/Stymie clip into a legal blog about an artichoke lawsuit, no less! I guess this means we'll see a Petey the dog clip if I can just find a case about a dog bite...