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Florida Man Drinks 20 Vodka Shots And Dies

By Eddie Farah

Sometimes stories in Florida sound like they come out of a Carl Hiassen novel, complete with a tragic ending.

A 26-year old man is dead after entering a vodka drinking contest in a Seffner, Florida bar. Eric Morris was going shot-to-shot with another patron at the Angels Nightclub. Finally the other guy quit, but Morris kept going and the bartender kept serving.

Witnesses estimate he drank 23 to 25 shots of vodka within 30 minutes. The bartender finally cut him off. Morris reportedly pounded the bar and got up to leave, fell over, and never got up. He was rushed to Brandon Regional Medical Center but was pronounced dead.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's office in Tampa is investigating this death pending a cause of death. They need a toxicology report before any conclusions are reached.

Where is the law on this? In Florida, bars can serve patrons as long as the patron wants to drink, and pay. Even if it is 25 shots. But there are guidelines in place through the sheriff's office and classes are available, to train bartenders how to safely serve and when to quit. After an incident like this, it is certainly time to revisit those "guidelines".

Florida's Office of Injury Prevention reports that unintentional injury as the third leading cause of death for all Floridians. An intentional act like this one is tough to understand. Nonetheless, our sympathies to the families involved. #

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Full post as published by Jacksonville Personal Injury Lawyer on June 26, 2008 (boomark / email).