She asked for $11k for medical bills. They refused.
"""
After four hours of deliberation, the jury found for Liebeck. She was awarded $200,000 for compensatory damages, reduced by 20 percent because Liebeck had contributed to the accident. They also awarded $2.7 million in punitive damages. One juror said, "It was our way of saying, 'Hey, open your eyes. People are getting burned'."
"""
http://academic.udayton.edu/Lawecon/Assignments/Torts/Mc%20D...
GP: you also have punitive fines - that's why that lady got $2M or so for the coffee burning her at McDonald's.
OP: "crazy lady gets insane punitive windfall for being too stupid to know that hot coffee is hot" was a PR effort
Me/article: They also awarded $2.7 million in punitive damages. One juror said, "It was our way of saying, 'Hey, open your eyes. People are getting burned'."
It sounded like the general idea with the "crazy lady gets insane punitive windfall" was "No, it wasn't punitive fines and it was for legitimate medical bills".
That's not the case, the jury specifically wanted to award punitive damages. The money was not for medical bills.
Which she didn't receive.
The basic fact remains that there were, in fact, punitive damages.