Legal Question in Civil Litigation in North Carolina

You can, but I very much doubt you will win. Your husband would be in a better position to bring this type of case, but even he would face some very long odds.

Unlike cigarettes, whose manufacturers worked hard to conceal the dangers of smoking, beer is a product that has risks we all know about. If anyone who becomes an alcoholic could win the type of lawsuit you have in mind, brewers and other manufacturers of alcohol would have gone out of business long ago.

Even if your lawsuit could succeed in principle, there are still practical problems you or your husband would have to overcome. To pick just one, could you prove that the product which drove your husband to alcoholism was made by Budweiser rather than a competitor?

I'm sorry you have to deal with this. Having an alcoholic spouse is a very serious problem, and it can lead to even worse problems down the road. I just don't think the type of lawsuit you have in mind would get you anywhere.

I'm sorry I can't be more encouraging.

NC is a contributory negligence state for now. What this means to you is that if your husband was found to be at fault, even only 1%, then he could not recover at all and you could not recover for loss of consortium.

Use some common sense here - Budweiser did not make your husband an alcoholic. Your husband made himself into an alcoholic, albeit with some genetic help. I suspect that it is partially genetic in that people have a predisposition to becoming an alcoholic. Something in the environment triggers the gene and the person then develops alcoholism.

If you really want to help your husband, you do not need to be worried about suing Budweiser. You need to make your husband get help. Help is available and many people have recovered, but your husband has got to be willing to help himself by first recognizing that he has a problem. So plase, get professional help.