BERLIN - A German judge has sued the Coca-Cola Company, claiming the soft drink was partly responsible for his diabetes because he drank a liter per day along with his chocolate bars.
Hans-Josef Brinkmann, a state court judge in eastern Germany, is seeking $6,400 in damages from Coke's German unit.
Friday, a German court proposed creating a panel of experts to examine whether large quantities of Coca-Cola could have caused the disease.
Brinkmann also wants the soft drink maker to pay for any medical treatment he may need over the next 30 years. He was diagnosed with adult-onset diabetes in 1998.
The suit, filed in November, claims Brinkmann became addicted to sugar and gained 220 pounds over years of washing down two Mars and Snickers chocolate bars each day with Coke. A similar damage claim by Brinkmann against the German producer of Mars and Snickers, Masterfood, is due in court next month.
A verdict in the Coke suit was expected in December, but the state court in Essen decided to convene a group of experts to examine the medical validity of Brinkmann's claim.
The court has selected the experts. Presiding Judge Juergen Schroeder declined to identify them. Brinkmann and the company must now approve the experts. The next court hearing is expected in late May or early June.
Coca-Cola has said it is confident the case will be dismissed. The company said that, in a healthy adult, the beverage's sugar content wouldn't cause the type of diabetes Brinkmann contracted.
Brinkmann's lawyer, Burkhard Oexmann, has said Coke should have put warnings of the high sugar content on its bottles, similar to those on cigarette packs. Oexmann said his client would have reduced his consumption to a safe quantity in health terms if there had been warning labels.
A spokesman at Coke's Atlanta headquarters declined immediate comment.
Tuesday
January 7th, 2025
7:44PM
