The Nation - News from April 25, 1989

Jury selection began in federal court in Seattle in the case of a woman who says drinking during pregnancy caused birth defects in her son. Candace and Harold Thorp filed suit against the makers of Jim Beam bourbon for not putting warning labels on its bottles. The couple’s 4-year-old son, Michael, was born mentally retarded, neurologically impaired, developmentally stunted, with facial and other body malformations, according to the lawsuit. The Thorps sued the James B. Beam Distillery Co. of Deerfield, Ill., claiming it should have provided labels warning that alcohol can cause birth defects. Twenty-nine potential jurors were called. Mrs. Thorp said in court documents she drank up to a half a fifth per day of Jim Beam bourbon while she was pregnant and did not know her drinking would damage her child.