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Girl Claims Price Scanner Gave Her Tourette's Syndrome

Attorneys for Dominica Juliano claim that she was burned and developed psychological problems after a store clerk aimed a hand-held price scanner at her face. Store attorneys say their scanners uses a harmless LED light and that the girl had serious health problems before she was scanned. From the article: "Dominica Juliano was 12 when she and her grandmother entered the Country Fair store in Erie in June 2004. A clerk allegedly called the girl 'grumpy' before flashing his hand-held bar code scanner over her face and telling her to smile. Attorneys for Ms. Juliano and her guardian say the girl was sensitive to light and burned, and later developed post-traumatic stress and Tourette's syndrome."

6 of 558 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Fire that Judge by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1, Redundant

    Mmmm. Pretty good point. But, the wench cheapens the suffering of everyone who really has experienced the problems she claims. Someone needs to bitch slap her and her guardian, then hear their evidence, then bitch slap them again.

    --
    "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
  2. Re:Fire that Judge by budgenator · · Score: 1, Redundant

    Tourette's or TS) is an inherited neuropsychiatric disorder with onset in childhood, characterized by the presence of multiple physical (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) tic; these tics characteristically wax and wane. Tourette's is defined as part of a spectrum of tic disorders, which includes transient and chronic tics. Tourette syndrome

    Not likely that a led scanner "caused" tourrette's.

    --
    Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
  3. Re:Fire that Judge by EdIII · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Of course we can also ignore the scientific fact that the overwhelming majority of all cases are genetically inherited neurological disorders.

    But hey...... I am sure even if it did burn her face that is also possible it was so devastating in its power it also somehow damaged the parts of her brain associated with the disorder without causing anything more than superficial burns on the face..... if that is even what happened.

    Sorry, but this is not a comic book. The barcode scanner did not impart some strange energy that was only absorbed by those specific parts of the brain to turn her into Tourette's Girl.

    I don't even feel sorry for here. Nothing happened to her but some low power laser beams being aimed towards her face. She will encounter more damage to her eyes throughout her life from the sun.

    Plenty of people live normal, albeit occasionally vulgar, lives with this disorder. Nothing to see here, move on....

  4. Re:Fire that Judge by timmarhy · · Score: 1, Redundant
    No, just no.

    barcode scanners output 1/1000th the power of a domestic light bulb. if that is enough to burn her, how the fuck is she still alive from all the death rays comming from the light sockets in her house?

    this is the worst kind of bullshit law suit and it's a big part of what wrong with the world today.

    --
    If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
  5. Re:From a neurological standpoint... by ceoyoyo · · Score: 1, Redundant

    Wow. You're right up there with the time cube and electric universe people.

    Tourette syndrome is an inherited neuropsychiatric disorder. It is not caused by visual stimuli and there is no evidence that visual stimuli can trigger or exacerbate Tourette's.

    To say nothing of burns caused by a low power LED.

  6. Re:Fire that Judge by Demena · · Score: 0, Redundant
    I really don't understand what you are attempting here. Is it some sort of argument? It certainly isn't a discussion a consideration of issues. Where did I suggest somebody hypnotised her. Where did I say that the power of the thing burnt her?

    She may have been in a hypnotic or semi hypnotic state due to a petite mal sizeure cause by the shining of a bright (and moving!) in her eyes, which resulted in her believing she was burned and causing blistering. Discuss the likelihood by al means but not the possibility. More particularly, please do not introduce straw-men and please do not take the piss. Have a little intellectual honesty.

    All I have maintained is that there maybe something to her story and there are issues that might need looking at. What I get back is the same attitude as "heavier than air craft cannot fly", "man can't travel at more than 70 mph".

    I'll concede to the fact that I should have used 'blister' not burn. But would you expect her to know the difference?

    As for LEDs being harmless just learn. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosensitive_epilepsy

    You demonstrate your ignorance.

    http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-petite-mal.htm

    Note particularly "such as a light being flashed in the eyes".

    I wont bother to wait for your apology.