P.M. BRIEFING : Suit Filed Over Bleach Drinking

The parents of a girl who drank a glass of Fresh Scent Clorox she mistook for water have sued the Clorox Co. of Oakland, claiming that it had an obligation to make a potentially harmful product smell bad.

Hot and thirsty, Rebecca Caruso picked up the glass and gulped down what she thought was discolored tap water. The glass contained five ounces of Fresh Scent Clorox, bleach that had been purged of its pungent aroma, the lawsuit said.

The accident, on Oct. 7, 1988, left Rebecca, now 16, with scar tissue that clogs her esophagus, requiring frequent operations, her mother, Patricia Caruso, said.

Clorox spokesman Fred Reicker said the company decided to make its product smell less offensive after a marketing study concluded that consumers preferred scented household products.