Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Death from drinking too much water

I think that before this incident very few people knew of the danger of water intoxication. After listening to the tape, I don't believe the radio staff or the woman who died understood the danger involved. As far as criminal penalties are concerned, it seems that the people involved have been punished enough.

However, a family has lost a mother and a wife and the radio station contributed to that loss. The radio station may be legally liable for that loss and may have to compensate the family, except possibly if the victim had signed a waiver which disclosed the possible danger.

I sure hope that this doesn't kill off food eating contests. Although I will never enter one, some friends and I were recalling today a successful visit by one of our colleagues to the Big Texan BBQ in Amarillo about 15 years ago. It's the place on I-40 that gives you the steak for free if you can finish it. "It" weighs 72 oz and finishing includes shrimp cocktail, dinner roll, baked potato, etc. We will be a poorer country when liability issues finish off opportunities like that! :-)

I think its fair to say that both parties are at fault here. The radio station needs to research and do it's homework before initiating any such contest, and any contestant needs to do the same for themselves.

I agree with HikerLaura in that if a Nurse called in and gave a verbal warning on the potential danger, the station should have AT LEAST done a quick online search to verify. So they are also at fault for not heeding the warning - now it's possible that they get a lot of phone calls and maybe alot of the time the calls are pranks - but with something like this, even if you have a doubt that the caller is a real Nurse - check into it. In this case it would have saved somebody's life.

The only real issue here is punitive damages. Not whether any will be awarded, but how much.

Just in case anyone is interested, here are the Black's Law Dictionary definitions of:

Manslaughter: The unjustifiable, inexcusable and intentional killing of a human being without deliberation, premeditation and malice. The unlawful killing of a human without any deliberation, which may be involuntary, in the commission of a lawful act without due caution and circumspection. Criminal homicide constitutes manslaughter when: a) it is committed recklessly; or b) a homicide which would otherwise be murder is committed under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance for which there is reasonable explanation or excuse.

Criminal Gross Negligence: Gross negligence is culpable or criminal when accompanied by acts of commision or omission of a wanton or willful nature, showing a reckless or indifferent disregard of the rights of others, under circumstances reasonably calculated to produce injury, or which make it not improbable that injury will be occasioned, and the offender knows or is charged with knowledge of the probable result of his acts.

Negligence: The omission to do something which a reasonable man, guided by those ordinary considerations which ordinarily regulate human affairs, would do, or the doing of something which a resaonable and prudent man would not do. The term refers only to that legal delinquency which results whenever a man fails to exhibit the care which he ought to exhibit, whether it be slight, ordinary, or great.

Criminal Negligence: Criminal Negligence which will render killing a person manslaughter is the omission on the part of the person to do some act which an ordinarily careful, prudent man under like circumstances would not do by reason of which another person is endangered in life or bodily safety.

A jury will probably have to determine if Mrs. Strange's death constitutes one of the above or if her death was a horrible accident.

Keep in mind that a lot of what GaryT included above (and welcome to the WPSMB, Gary) relates to a criminal action, the filing of which the local authorities in Sacatomatoes have said is unlikely as of today. As for a civil action (i.e., Wrongful Death), that's another matter -- and in such a claim the deceased person's beneficiaries typically assert that the death was attributable to the willful or negligent act of another.