ABSTRACT
One evening just after supper in 2002, two mothers in Phoenix, Arizona, lovingly lowered their young sons into warm baths. The mothers were unknown to each other though they lived a mile apart. One mother was Hispanic, the other Anglo. Legally, the lysing action of the amebae shown in the microimages would appear to satisfy any requirements of law that the amebae present a danger of imminent bodily injury. Once the pathogenic trophozoites enter the nasal passageways, they begin to feed by means of lysing of the mucosal tissues. The majority of states adhere to the so-called "public duty doctrine." It provides that duties that a state or political subdivision owes to all members of the public at large are not legally enforceable by any injured member of that public. In rebuttal to the contention that no "artificial condition" caused the boy's death, the doctrine of proximate cause was implicated.
