Sorry, I was talking to the larger context:

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.