Nutrition & Wellness – Biology 50

Settlement in Wee for a Wii Water Intoxication (Hyponatremia) Death

October 30, 2009

Water Intoxication or Hyponatremia tends to be an uncommon disorder, unless as I’ve mentioned in class, you happen to live in Northern California.

In the nearly 5 years that I have been teaching Nutrition there have been two high profile deaths from Water Intoxication. The first was a 21-year-old Chico State College Student, Matthew Carrington who died in 2005 after fraternity hazing.

The most recent one occured just two years later in 2007 when Jennifer Strange, a 28-year-old mother participating in a Radio Station contest to”Hold Your Wee for a Wii.” Both occurred in Northern California.

It is interesting how serendipity works at time. While I was lecturing on these unfortunate cases of Water Intoxication, a settlement was being reached in the lawsuit filed against the radio station. I am posting the latest correct information about the Wee for a Wii Water Intoxication (Hyponatremia) Death from 2007.

The Wee for a Wii Case

Jennifer Strange of Rancho Cordova entered the “Hold Your Wee for a Wii” contest sponsored by KDND-FM (107.9) “The End” to try and win a Nintendo Wii video game system for her three children. In the contest contestants were challenged to drink water (16 ounces of water every 10 minutes). She came in second, dropping out once she started feeling ill. Ultimately Strange ended up succumbing to the excessive water consumption from the contest.

On October 29, a Sacramento jury awarded $16 million to her family.Entercom Sacramento, which operates KDND-FM (107.9) “The End,” was found negligent of ignoring several warnings that a morning show contest could have fatal consequences. During the course of the contest, one on-air host mentioned the 2005 death of a college student during a hazing ritual in Chico and a listener also called in to advise against the stunt.

Info on Water Intoxication or Hyponatremia

Water intoxication is generally not a common problem. Researchers published a clinical case of a 64 year old woman who began compulsively drinking water in the Journal of Clinical Pathology in 2003. They included the mechanism behind water intoxication:

Water intoxication provokes disturbances in electrolyte balance, resulting in a rapid decrease in serum sodium concentration and eventual death. The development of acute dilutional hyponatraemia causes neurological symptoms because of the movement of water into the brain cells, in response to the fall in extracellular osmolality.

Too much water in the body causes water to move into the cells, particularly the brain cells. As the sodium concentration falls in the blood (because of too much water) symptoms progress from confusion to drowsiness and eventually coma. The rate at which the water is consumed plays an important factor in the lethality of water intoxication. Large volumes of water consumed in a short period of time can produce a rapid drop in serum sodium levels which may be fatal.

Hopefully with these two high-profile cases, the word will get out and people will know not to drink too much water too fast.

Sources:

October 2009. Radio Station Found Liable in Water Intoxication Death Suit. News10.net.
Grab S. October 2009. Jury awards $16 million to family in fatal radio prank. LA Times Blog.
Farrell DJ. Bower L. 2003. Fatal Water Intoxication. J Clin Pathol. October; 56(10): 803–804.
Korry E. 2005. A Fraternity Hazing Gone Wrong. NPR.org

Image: Richard Dudley. Glass of Water. Royalty Free Use.

Entry Filed under: Health News, Media and Nutrition, Nutrition News. Tags: Hyponatremia Death, Water Intoxication, Wee for a Wii Contest.