Monster Beverage Lawsuit: Parents Blame Energy Drink For Daughter’s Death

The parents of a 14-year-old girl who passed away in December have filed a lawsuit against Monster Beverage Corp. claiming that its drink, Monster Energy, contributed to their daughter’s death.

The lawsuit claims that 14-year-old Anais Fournier went into cardiac arrest after drinking Monster Energy drinks on two consecutive days.

The girl’s mother, Wendy Crossland, also dug up the records of five other deaths supposedly related to Monster Energy. Crossland obtained the records under the Freedom of Information Act and sent them to the FDA.

Crossland filed a lawsuit last week against Monster Beverage saying that the company was responsible for her daughter’s death since they did not warn customers about the possible dangers of the drink.

A spokesman for Monster said: “(Monster is) unaware of any fatality anywhere that has been caused by its drinks.”

According to the NY Times, the five cases reported by Crossland to the FDA do not directly link Monster Energy drinks to fatalities or health problems. It is also unclear if the cases reported involved other factors like alcohol or drugs.

FDA spokeswoman Shelly Burgess said that the agency was investigating the deaths allegedly caused by Monster Energy but said that the agency had not found a direct link.

Burgess told the SF Gate: “FDA continues to evaluate the emerging science on a variety of ingredients, including caffeine.”

A 20-ounce can of Monster Energy contains about 240 milligrams of caffeine. A cup of coffee typically contains around 100 milligrams of caffeine. According to the Associated Press, Fournier died from “cardiac arrhythmia due to caffeine toxicity.” The AP notes that the girl also suffered from a heart condition.

Do you think Monster Energy is safe? Should their be stricter regulations on highly caffeinated drinks?