A time-honored tradition among college students is the frat party where students gather to drink, play games, and make friends at a university fraternity house. While frat parties are great places to enjoy cheap (or even free) drinks and hang out with friends, the potential for consuming too much alcohol is great, especially for incoming college kids who do not have high tolerance levels or have not done much drinking before and will not recognize signs of having too much.
Alcohol poisoning is one common effect of over-drinking. When a person drinks too much alcohol in a short period of time, the quick influx of alcohol affects his or her breathing, heart rate, gag reflex, body temperature and mental stability, and can actually poison the drinker to the point of coma or death. If you have alcohol poisoning, you need immediate medical treatment to stabilize your body and prevent you from going into a coma.
The problem with alcohol poisoning is that often, the person who has had too much to drink is surrounded by other partiers, who may not be able to detect the problem and may not react immediately, prolonging the threat to the person’s life. In these cases, the victim is even more danger, because he is most likely too drunk to seek help, and may be left untreated.
Liability and Responsibility
Individuals who drink socially or alone should be aware of their tolerance levels and limits and keep track of the amount of drinks consumed any time they are out at frat parties or other social events where alcohol is served. But according to the law, there are circumstances where other people can be held responsible for a person’s drinking, as well as the dangers that follow, such as alcohol poisoning or other related traumas.
In fact, there have been a few instances where parents of alcohol poisoning victims have sued those who provided the alcohol or hosted the event. Such wrongful death lawsuits are often contingent on the specific circumstances, the age of the victim and the ages of the providers. Many alcohol poisoning victims are underage-college freshmen, new on campus and unused to drinking and partying.
It is illegal to serve alcohol to anyone under the age of 21 and hosts who provide alcohol to these teen and 20-year-old drinkers can be held liable for providing alcohol to a minor and may be responsible for the results.
Contact Us
At Rehmeyer and Allat, we represent anyone who has lost a loved one due to alcohol, whether from alcohol poisoning, a car accident or any related catastrophe. A wrongful death lawsuit will not, of course, bring your loved one back, but it may provide some measure of compensation for your loss and the resultant expenses, as well as hold those responsible accountable for their involvement. To discuss your case, contact one of our State College personal injury lawyers for a consultation today.