If you get fat or have health problems because of eating Thickburgers at Hardee’s, double Quarter Pounders with bacon at McDonald’s, or “loaded” baked potatoes at your favorite Carolina steakhouse, don’t blame the restaurant.

And if a bill being considered by the House this week becomes law, don’t try to sue them in South Carolina, either.

Under the Common Sense Consumption Act, anybody having anything to do with those potatoes, burgers or bacon strips would be shielded from civil liability claims if you gained weight, became obese, or developed other health problems.

“People have got to be responsible for their own actions,” said Rep. Herb Kirsh, D-York, one of the bill’s sponsors. “Nobody makes you go there.”

Manufacturers, packers, marketers, sellers and others should be exempt from civil liability under such claims of harm, Kirsh said. It’s a logical extension of legislation enacted this month, capping civil liability claims at $350,000.

A retired businessman, Kirsh, 75, had pushed such legislation in the General Assembly for 10 years before its passage.

The idea for the consumption bill came not from a specific problem in South Carolina, Kirsh said, but from the case a few years ago of a woman in Arizona who sued a fast-food restaurant after she scalded herself with hot coffee.

No lawsuits alleging obesity are known to have been filed in the state, according to the Hospitality Association of South Carolina.

A couple of suits over obesity were filed in New York against McDonald’s in recent years, and those are the lawsuits supporters bring up to illustrate the need for new laws.

The S.C. bill also would shield from obesity liability those who make and sell nonalcoholic beverages, such as sugar-laden soft drinks, presumably.

“Every man is his own personal agent,” Kirsh said, “and if he can’t stand up and do that, he shouldn’t be rewarded for it.”

Elaine and Lawrence Groleau of northeast Columbia stopped for a Thickburger — an indulgence they take only “occasionally” — at the Hardee’s on Forest Drive when they got back recently from a Florida vacation.

Elaine Groleau finds little to argue with Kirsh about. It makes so much sense, she said, that she’s not even sure it needs to be a law.

“Each person has to make their own choice for what they eat, not to sue because they ate too much,” she said. “But if people are suing, then (passing a law) is what we should do.”

West Columbia physician C.T. Goodson, one of the few bariatricians in the Midlands, likes the no-liability idea but also feels government has a role to play. Bariatrics is the medical study of obesity and its treatment.

“People should have the freedom of choice to overeat, ride motorcycles without helmets, ride in cars without seat belts and smoke cigarettes — so long as they are not endangering others,” said Goodson, who teaches bariatrics to other physicians.

“However, they also have the right to be informed of the dangers of all of them. Our government should take some responsibility for this.”

An amendment added to Kirsch’s bill last week by the House Judiciary Committee stipulates some responsibility for disclosure rests with the product provider.

Nutritional value and content of the product would have to be made available to consumers upon request, according to the amendment, before a business could be held harmless under the bill.

However, Goodson said, the government should force restaurants and schools to post how many calories are in each item on its menu, right beside that item.

“Nutrition education should be started at the earliest possible age and with young mothers,” he said.

But Goodson would go even further — outlawing smoking in all restaurants, bars and public places, and raising the cigarette tax to $8 a pack to cover the federally estimated $7.19-per-pack cost of treating illnesses and other ailments caused by smoking.

Reach Burris at (803) 771-8398 or rburris@thestate.com.