PetSmart Sued Over Hamster Virus Death
OK, long story short: A woman is suing PetSmart because her husband received a liver transplant. The liver was infected with a rare virus found in hamsters (and other rodent companions). This virus found its way into the donor’s liver. The husband (liver recipient—keep up!) died.
All of this because PetSmart failed to inform the owner of the hamster (liver donor) that her new pet may or may not be the carrier of an extremely rare virus.
She’s suing because “PetSmart had a duty to warn its customers that hamsters could carry the virus and that people with weakened immune systems could die from it.”
Seriously?
It is tragic that this woman and her children lost a husband and father, especially after receiving an organ transplant. But is PetSmart really responsible for a freak accident?
What else should PetSmart warn their customers about?
“Ma’am, I see that you are pregnant. Perhaps you should reconsider purchasing this kitten. Toxoplasmosis is a rare occurrence that may affect you if you change the litter box.”
“Sir, you should know, before getting that puppy, that if he gets fleas, he could get tapeworm, and maybe you can get it too. I just want to warn you. Also, if he gets rabies and bites you, you might get rabies too.”
“It’s incredibly rare to contract a disease from your bird, but you should know that there’s a slight chance of you getting Cryptococcosis. I don’t even know what that is, but I’m just throwing that out there.”
This lawsuit is ridiculous.
Or maybe it’s not. Maybe PetSmart should make sure their employees receive thorough training in zoonoses, so they can implant unwarranted paranoia in all their customers.
What do you think?
I personally think the most satisfying part of purchasing my new pet is that little pep talk I get at the register telling me I just might get sick from a virus I’ve never heard of. Maybe I should just go put the critter(s) back...
Though I think even those vicious PetSmart employees will let you in on this little secret, you should always wash your hands after handling your pets (especially reptiles). Your health, and perhaps the health of anyone who may be receiving your organs in the future, will thank you.
Yes, I can totally see PetSmart's responsibility to keep all of the organ donor recipients aware. I think she'd be better off suing the hamsters for existing. Where do these people find the time to make these correlations for the sake of lawsuits?
I understand she's probably just looking for someone to blame but... Even if PetSmart had said something to the other woman, she probably would have purchased the hamster anyway.
It's not like the donor had a compromised immune system, and was going to worry bout a hamster anyway. I don't think they let you donate your organs when that's the case.
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Now I have the Hamster Dance AND the Humpty Dance dueling for space in my brain. I am so suggestable. This is going to be a crappy day. Not your fault, exactly, but it was your title that started the ball rolling...
Oh well. If it weren't Sir Mix-A-Lot, it would be somebody else.
*oh, do me baby...do the humpty hump...*
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
Perhaps having "they're coming to take me away, haha, they're coming to take me away" would be a better song to have stuck in your head today?
Or there's always LemonDemon's "Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny."
I hope your day gets better, though. :-)
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You are pure evil. Evil..
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
Naaaahhh...
Pure, unrefined evil would be making you sit through this video.
also, maybe this one.
now, perhaps, I just might be evil. ;-)
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I'm fairly certain "suggestable" isn't a real world, and even if it was it definitely wouldn't work in this context. Next time, try "open to suggestion."
: )
P.S. I can't be hypnotized because you have to be "open to suggestion" in order for an attempt to be successful. I bet the hypnotists could get you to do all kinds of silly things!
...is that I have the power to create new words. Alas, in this case, I did not make up a new word. I just spelled it wrong. From Merriam-Webster:
suggestible
Main Entry:
sug·gest·ible
Pronunciation:
\səg-ˈjes-tə-bəl, sə-ˈjes-\
Function:
adjective
Date:
1890
: easily influenced by suggestion
It works in the context of my comment.
And I won't be hypnotized for that very reason. I fear looking ridiculous.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
Sweet!
You learn something new every day...
Few people know that I have the power to create new words. They're always happy to learn it.
:-h
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
Bahaha, stupid lawsuits and stupid people = my dislike for most of the human race and the source of most of my entertainment.
They are like a double-edged sword.
I think my favorite will always be the woman suing McDonald's because she didn't expect the coffee to be so hot.
Though I did hear of another incident of a woman suing Kellog's because, while she left her poptarts unattended in the toaster to drive somewhere, they got stuck and started a house fire.
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Lmao to the poptart one. Brilliant humans we are.
Defendent - "But Kellogs didn't warn me that leaving poptarts in a toaster could cause a house fire."
Judge -"I'm gonna throw this case out on the account of your seeming nonexistent reasoning, logic and common sense. Thanks for wasting my time."
Now the McDonalds one was dumb, but the coffee was hotter than it should have been. So I understand the overtly hot coffee, but besides that, it was dumb as well.
I like the one where a guy was trying to break into a house by sneaking through the chimney. He fell through the roof and broke his back or something and decided to sue the homeowners because they didn't have a roof that could support his weight.
Seems like people are suing about anything these days, as if a lawsuit can bring back their husbands or loved ones. And yes, I remember that hot coffee lawsuit, and since then every company that sells hot beverages has to put ridiculously extreme messages on their cups, like "the beverage you are about to consume is EXTREMELY hot," when really, its usually lukewarm!
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Wow. This one is kind of strange. I hope it is just because she is emotional over her lost.
In this economy, it may be purely a matter of financial survival. Her husband's income is gone, and it is tough to survive on one income these days. Plus medical bills from the transplant...I don't mean to sound cold, but it would make sense to go after whomever possible in order to replace that lost income.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
if the lady became a hampster serial killer than she may be satisfied. Really c'mon that is soo stupid. Because of ignorant people we have to put on HOT coffee containers "This is hot." We have to put cook pizza before eating....
I think there is not a case. If I can't sue over the hospital killing my mom with a doctor admitting so, then that lady should not be able to sue over a hampster.
Why don't we put warning tags on dogs saying "This puppy may bite you in the future."
http://www.progressiveu.org/032913-lupus-uncureable-wait-what
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You can't sue for malpractice, negligence, anything? That doesn't seem right at all. :-(
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Here, they go by what you make in a year. Since my mom owned her own business and was sick the year she died she only made 1,000. Insurance company gets paid first 250,000. Then we would have to prove they put the deepline catheter into an artery instead of a vein. And the lawyer concluded pretty much that my mom's life was not worth sueing for because she did not make enough money...
The hospital tried to say that my mom had a stroke and respitory failure when she ARRIVED at the hospital. This is not true. She was walking on both legs, talking and breathing fine. Yes she was very sick but had none of those problems.
After they put a deepline catheter into the artery, the next day she went into respitory failure, was having seizures, had a stroke and went into a coma for almost a month. We had a doctor admit that placing the deepline catheter into an artery was what caused this, but he dissappeared after that day.
http://www.progressiveu.org/032913-lupus-uncureable-wait-what
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That's horrible. :-(
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Because of ignorant people we have to put on HOT coffee containers "This is hot." We have to put cook pizza before eating....
oh, but my favorite is "wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly"
not only is it a label (on a superman costume), it's also the title of a book full of dumb warning labels. :-)
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