Is a Social Host Liable for Serving Liquor to An Intoxicated Guest Who Subsequently Injures a Person ?

In Klein v. Raysinger, 504 Pa. 141, 470 A.2d 507 (1983), the court determined that the Liquor Code, 47 P.S. 4-493(1), which prohibits a liquor licensee from serving alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person, does not create a civil cause of action against non-licensed persons for providing alcohol to adults. In finding no duty on the part of a social host to a plaintiff injured by an intoxicated adult guest, the court explained that "the great weight of authority supports the view that in the case of an ordinary able bodied man it is the consumption of alcohol, rather than the furnishing of the alcohol, which is the proximate cause of any subsequent occurrence." Id. at, 470 A.2d at 510.