Obit. from The Times Feb. 7th '12

[magical thyme]

3. this lie bothers me every time I read it

"Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a
steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, launched a lawsuit and
was promptly awarded a huge settlement. "



Because I heard an interview with the elderly woman's son, and their version of what happened,which explains why they won the law suit.

The coffee was so hot that a little spilled on her lap soaked through her pants and gave her 3rd degree burns on her leg. Third degree burns. Not red and sore. Not blistered for a couple days before healing.

Third degree burns mean the skin is destroyed. Not red and sore, not blistered, but totally destroyed. That means debriding the destroyed tissue and subsequent skin grafts through multiple surgeries to repair the damage, made all the harder to do because of her age and more delicate skin. Healing is much slower and the risk of infection high.

All of this is excrutiatingly painful, extremely costly, and was totally unnecessary because coffee should not be made so hot that it will cause 3rd degree burns.

Third degree burns should not result from spilling coffee. Especially in a public place, anybody could end up getting coffee or hot water spilled on them, either through their own mistake or by a total stranger.

I suggest the writer of the common sense thingie spend some time on a burn ward and get a sense of what 3rd degree burns mean.