US – Mother sues Monster Energy for her child’s death

The alert around energy drinks caffeine content is already high, but the following news enlightens again the problem.

Paula Morris, mother of Alex Morris (19), dead by cardiac arrest on 1st July 2012, sued Monster Energy in the past days. The lawsuit, filed in Alameda County Superior Court alleges Morris would not have died if he did not drink two cans of Monster’s energy drink every day for the three years before his death, including the day he died.

This is the second suspect case, after last year death of 14-year-old Anais Fournier, of Maryland. Also in this case the family sued the company for the same reasons.

A Freedom of Information Request revealed that from 2004 to 2012 the Food and Drug Administration had received reports of five deaths occurring after drinking Monster Energy. The reports do not prove a causal link between the drink and any health problems, but the alert is at the maximum level.

The company said previously in Fournier’s case that no blood test was performed to confirm that the girl died of “caffeine toxicity” as the lawsuit claimed, saying she died of natural causes brought on by pre-existing conditions.

The caffeine content of most Monster Energy drinks is approximately 10 mg/oz (33.81 mg/100ml), or 160 mg for a 16 oz can. The packaging usually contains a warning label advising consumers against drinking more than 48 oz per day (16 oz per day in Australia). The UK and Europe do not have these warning labels. The drinks are not recommended for children, pregnant women or people sensitive to caffeine, but there are also some troubles about energy drinks companies advertising towards the children segment.

As published here in the recent past, the consumption of energy drinks by youngsters and children is a real problem and also in EU it’s a moment on reflection on caffeine’s safety: European Commission has requested an opinion to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on caffeine’s safety and suspended the evaluation of caffeine’s claims.

Related articles

• Mom sues Monster energy drink over teen’s death (nbcnews.com)
• Mom Sues Corona-Based Monster Energy Drink Over Teen’s Death (losangeles.cbslocal.com)
• Monster Energy Drink linked to another teen’s death, lawsuit filed (cbsnews.com)
• Lawsuit blames Monster energy drinks for California teen’s death (foxnews.com)