Woman Claims Spicy Thai ‘Dragon Balls’ Burned Her Insides

A lawsuit that claims a Bay Area Thai restaurant served a San Jose doctor a dish so spicy it scorched her insides is set to go to trial next year. Harjasleen Walia’s vocal cords, esophagus and right nostril were burned by the dish, the suit alleges. “She incurred permanent injuries and will forever be damaged,” the lawsuit claims. The restaurant denied causing injury to Walia, and said that no other customer has ever made a similar complaint. Walia and a friend dined at Coup de Thai in Los Gatos in July 2021 and ordered the Dragon Balls, according to the lawsuit. Dragon Balls are described as a “spicy chicken ball” on Coup de Thai’s website. The lawsuit alleges Walia asked her server to make the dish less spicy, but a new employee accidentally added more peppers. The lawsuit claims the Thai bird’s eye chili peppers are the ingredient that makes the Dragon Balls “unfit for human consumption.” Bird’s eye chili peppers are about as spicy as the mildest habanero peppers, which is 20 to 40 times hotter than jalapeño peppers. A National Poison Control Center doctor interviewed by The Mercury News said that while Thai chilies can irritate the mouth and throat and cause nausea and heartburn, they don’t cause “permanent tissue damage.”

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