Posts Tagged ‘ Wrongful Death ’
Law News For You: Energy Drink ER Trips Skyrocket
June 18th, 2013. By AbiK
Duh. Watch College Kids React to Monster Energy Death News (Parent Alert!)
June 14th, 2013. By AbiK
Add energy drinks to the list of worries for parents sending kids off to college. Of course, energy drinks seem to pale when compared to sex, drugs, alcohol and all that comes with that trio of vices—from OD’ing, to date rape, to DUI’s. But that’s the thing—energy drinks seem…so…harmless, right? After all, they’re sold in convenience stores and vending machines right next to the bags of chips…
If the above news clip is any indication, energy drinks are quite popular on college campuses—and just as readily available as coffee. So why the fuss?
The fuss is due to a pending lawsuit against Monster Energy Drink that alleges that 14-year old Anais Fournier went into cardiac arrest and died after drinking two 24-ounce cans of Monster in less than 24 hours. (Check out our interview with attorney Kevin Goldberg of Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester–he’s one of the attorneys representing the Fournier’s).
And there’s also the lawsuit filed by San Francisco city attorney Dennis Herrera which claims the Monster caffeine levels can lead to elevated blood pressure, seizures and cardiac arrest. That’s all bad enough (if true) but the real fuss ought to be that Monster’s being marketed to kids. Your kids.
RELATED: SRSLY? ABA Rep Tries to Defend High Caffeine Energy Drinks #EpicFail
Let’s back up a moment. There was a time when college exam cram time meant coffee-infused study sessions, splashing your face with cold water and relying on whatever other natural means there were to stay awake and pull an all-nighter. Sure, some kids popped the occasional No-Doz (some still do)—not a good practice, but there’s a bit of a difference: when was the last time you saw No-Doz logos popping up all over black hoodies or on the “sponsor” list of latest batch of rad, gnarly, wicked or badass athletes?
Not remembering?
That would be because No-Doz doesn’t really market itself that way. It knows its place isn’t in the culture of cool. Monster Energy, however, does something different. By selling (allegedly) extreme caffeine in drink form rather than pill form, it’s tried to create a whole lifestyle around ramping things up a notch. Or two. Or three.
Here’s how the ‘guys’ at Monster talk about themselves (straight from their website):
In short, at Monster all our guys walk the walk in action sports, punk rock music, partying, hangin’ with the girls, and living life on the edge. Monster is way more than an energy drink. Led by our athletes, musicians, employees, distributors and fans, Monster is…
A lifestyle in a can
Right. “Lifestyle in a can”. Live life on that edge, dude.
See, somehow when you put it in drink form, wrap the can in cool graphics, and get extreme sports icons to promote it, downing super-charged soda somehow becomes cool. The sexed up version of caffeine pills. And the marketers at Monster know that. They know how impressionable kids, pre-teens, teens and even twenty-somethings can be. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t seen any banner ads for Monster over at AARP. Why? Because your average grown-up over the age of 40 knows a soft drink loaded with caffeine is bullshit.
Monster markets to a gullible crowd—and one that thinks it’s invincible.
Unfortunately, if the allegations surrounding the Anais Fournier case prove true, and if reports on the increase in energy drink-related emergency room visits* are any indication, the very folks Monster is marketing to are not invincible. They’re vulnerable—first mentally for buying into this marketing crap, and possibly physically for drinking it.
As parents, sometimes it’s the more innocent-looking influences—the wolf in sheep’s clothing—that are more insidious than the stuff we’re reminded to be wary about on a daily basis.
*In 2011, the US Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) reported a tenfold spike in emergency room visits involving energy drinks. Approximately 70% of cases involving teens from ages 12 to 17 going to ER was due to energy drinks itself – without drugs or alcohol. Most hospitalizations are caused by dehydration, heat exhaustion and heart problems. A January 2013 update from DAWN indicates that from 2007 to 2011 the number of energy drink ER visits doubled, with 20,783 reported emergency room visits due to energy drink consumption in 2011.
SRSLY? ABA Rep Tries to Defend High Caffeine Energy Drinks #EpicFail
May 30th, 2013. By AbiK
Love it when a reader comments on one of our articles and her comment tries to defend something absurd. Like energy drinks with a sh*tload of caffeine in them. That young kids are drinking. And potentially even dying from.
This reader, who left her message with the screen name “MaureenatABA” (note, a quick gander over at the ABA site shows a Maureen Beach as their Director, Communications. Coincidence?) —and for those of you thinking that’s the American Bar Association, no, that would be the American Beverage Association—commented on a recent article we posted, “Monster Energy Drinks Attorney Weighs In“, in which attorney Kevin Goldberg with Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester provided insight on what’s wrong with how energy drinks are classified (or not) by the FDA. It’s a dubious system at best.
Needless to say, as one of the attorneys representing the family of Anais Fournier, the 14-year-old girl who drank two bottles of Monster Energy drinks and went into cardiac arrest and died six days later—Goldberg has some unique insight into energy drinks (and I imagine a hell of a lot of discovery). The Monster drink lawsuit, btw, is a wrongful death one that alleges not only dangerous levels of caffeine in the drink, but inappropriate marketing of the energy drink to children.
I should share MaureenatABA’s comment:
“Most energy drinks contain significantly less caffeine than a similarly-sized cup of coffeehouse coffee. In fact, many contain about half (http://bit.ly/11FcrFN). In addition, a Harvard study revealed that there is not enough caffeine in a standard energy drink to trigger an arrhythmia, even in a person with a pre-existing heart condition (h
ttp://1.usa.gov/16gzKXN). Energy drinks have been enjoyed safely by millions of people around the world for more than 25 years and in the U.S. for more than 15.- Maureen at ABA“
Well, Maureen, posting a link to the ABA’s chart depicting caffeine levels in a soft drink, an energy drink, and a cup of coffee is a bit lame. It’s a pretty picture, of course, though the scale of the 16-oz. soft drink icon is a bit off and the blatant green circle on the coffee clearly (and shamelessly, c’mon) targets Starbuck’s—but that’s all it is: a picture. It doesn’t cite independent sources that have tested for caffeine levels, and oddly, it shows a different story than what Consumer Reports reported back in December when it—independently—provided a different chart that listed caffeine levels in specific brand name drinks. If you missed that chart, it’s shown at right.
Oh MaureenatABA—I forgot—you’re probably then saying that there’s that Harvard study you referenced! You are so right. And here’s some interesting things about that:
1. It’s from 1989.
2. The mean age of the study participants was 61 years.
3. The drinks the study participants received had 200 mg caffeine in them.
Forgive me, but what Goldberg is dealing with is…
1. Something that happened recently. Note that you mention that these energy drinks have been in the U.S. for the last 15 years. According to my math, 2013 minus 15 years brings us to 1998—which is almost a DECADE after the Harvard study was done. The authors of the study surely did not have a supply of today’s energy drinks to test.
2. A younger population. Rather than a population reaching retirement, the lawsuit focuses on a 14-year old child (and, as a class, all children).
3. Caffeine levels that go beyond 200 mg “modest dose” administered in the Harvard study.
For those of you who want a less skewed perspective on the Monster Energy Drink lawsuit, I’d suggest reading Jane Mundy’s interview with attorney Kevin Goldberg. And stay tuned.
Could Wipes have Killed an Innocent Child?
February 16th, 2011. By LucyC
On December 1st, 2010, two-year old Harrison Kothari died from a rare infection while in the hospital recovering from surgery. As if this weren’t bad enough, the kicker is the very real possibility that the infection, acute bacterial meningitis caused by Bacillus cereus, and his subsequent death could have been prevented. So Harrison’s parents are suing the makers of Triad Alcohol Prep Pads, which the hospital used on their son in late 2010, but which were subsequently recalled on January 5th 2011 due to contamination with Bacillus cereus.
While hospitals are infamous incubators of a host of bacterial illnesses, acute bacterial meningitis is not one of them. Rather, Bacillus cereus is typically found in rare food poisoning outbreaks. Hospital officials were at a loss to explain how Harrison had contracted the infection. “They had no explanation as to how he contracted it,” Sandra Kothari, 37, Harrison’s mother told msnbc.com. “They know it’s rare in the hospital.”
Then, in January, a relative caught sight of the recall notice for the alcohol wipes and swabs on the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website, which reads:
“Triad Group, a manufacturer of over-the-counter products and FDA notified healthcare professionals and patients of the recall involving all lots of alcohol prep pads, alcohol swabs, and alcohol swabsticks manufactured by Triad but sold as private labels at the consumer level. This recall has been initiated due to concerns about potential contamination of the products with Bacillus cereus. This recall involves those products marked as STERILE as well as non-sterile products. Use of contaminated alcohol prep pads, alcohol swabs, and alcohol swabsticks could lead to life-threatening infections, especially in at-risk populations, including immune suppressed and surgical patients.”
“These wipes were used in his [Harrison’s] care every single day, multiple times a day,” Harrison’s father, 38-year old Shanoop Kothari, told msnbc.com. And officials at the hospital have confirmed that those alcohol prep products were supplied by Triad.
“We’re confident that that’s the cause,” said Kothari. “There was no other explanation that made any sort of sense. He contracted a very rare bacteria. These swatches were tainted with that bacteria.”
This week lawyers representing the Kotharis filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Houston, charging the Triad Group with gross negligence and seeking damages for the loss of Harrison’s life.
“Our emotional response over this has been horrible,” said Shanoop Kothari said of his family, which also includes Harrison’s 7-year-old sister, Hannah. “We’ve been devastated. We’ve been absolutely crushed.”
This tragic situation brings to light a larger problem: according to FDA spokesperson, Christopher Kelly, who spoke with msnbc.com about this matter, Triad, a 35-year old family run company, “did everything correctly” in notifying government authorities about the recall. The recalled products are reportedly also sold under private labels in Canada and Europe, as well as the US. So what does this mean for you and me—woe betide us if we do not regularly monitor the FDA website?
Understandably, Sandra Kothari is worried that others may have been injured, infected or killed as a result of exposure to these products. “I wouldn’t want any other mother to go what I’ve gone through,” she told msnbc. And it’s possible. To be clear, these wipes and swabs were widely used in hospitals and, “sold in stores including CVS and Walgreens. “People buy alcohol pads and they last a long time in your bathroom. They’re sitting there now,” she said.
The recall notice states the following:
“The affected Alcohol Prep Pads, Alcohol Swabs and Alcohol Swabsticks can be identified by either “Triad Group,” listed as the manufacturer, or the products are manufactured for a third party and use the names listed below in their packaging: Cardinal Health, PSS Select, VersaPro, Boca/ Ultilet, Moore Medical, Walgreens, CVS, Conzellin.
A final caveat—in case you’re wondering whether Harrison had received his bacterial meningitis vaccine—the answer is no—he wasn’t quite old enough at the time he underwent surgery. And even if he had had the vaccine, it doesn’t protect against that strain of the bacteria.
Read the Triad alcohol swab recall notice here.
James Woods and Hospital Settle Wrongful Death Lawsuit
December 3rd, 2009. By AbiK
After blogging about HAI’s (Healthcare Associated Infections) recently, and recalling some of the recent reports on MRSA, I was thinking about the James Woods trial–the one where his brother, Michael Woods, had gone to the emergency room at Kent Hospital in Rhode Island back in 2006 with a sore throat and vomiting; he wound up dying after a heart attack. The wrongful death lawsuit centered around James Woods’ charge that the hospital didn’t do enough to save his brother’s life.
Well, they’ve settled the lawsuit. Yes, the Woods family did get an “undisclosed” amount of money, but according to the Associated Press, they also got a belated apology from the hospital and an agreement from the hospital that a new institute, the Michael J. Woods Institute at Kent Hospital, will be created to to find ways to reduce human errors at hospitals.
According to AP, “The hospital agreed to invest $1.25 million over the next five years in the institute, which will look at how to reduce the risk of errors based on how humans actually do things, also known as human factors research. Its leadership will include a representative of Michael Woods’ family, as well as experts from inside and outside of the hospital.”
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