In recent years personal injury attorneys and trial lawyers have attacked the food industry with numerous lawsuits alleging that these businesses should pay monetary damages to those who, of their own accord, consume too much of a legal, safe product.

S. Before he pled guilty Ney was identified in the guilty pleas of Jack Abramoff former Tom DeLay deputy chief of staff Tony Rudy former DeLay press secretary Michael Scanlon and former Ney chief of staff Neil Volz for receiving lavish gifts in exchange for political favors. As chair of that committee he oversaw operations in the Capitol complex and was sometimes known as the "Mayor of Capitol Hill".