Lawsuit Updates: Energy Drinks

The family of a young Brooklyn man who died of heart failure after drinking Red Bull has filed an $85 million lawsuit against the manufacturer Monday, the New York Post reports.

Cory Terry, who was only 33 and the father of a 13-year-old, was at a basketball game when he collapsed. The incident took place almost two years ago in New York City. Terry had allegedly drunk a can of Red Bull at a middle school gym. Terry was reportedly a healthy construction worker, but he regularly consumed Red Bull.

Terry is not the first person to die after consuming an energy drink. Several lawsuits have been filed against Monster Beverage for allegedly marketing its highly caffeinated Monster Energy Drink to kids, teenagers and young adults. The Monster Energy drink supposedly contains 240 mg of caffeine, about the equivalent of seven cups of coffee (some health experts say the caffeine content in energy drinks can be as high as 550 mg). It also contains other stimulants, including guarana, a natural caffeine-containing plant panax ginseng and taurine.


The serious, if not life-threatening medical issues associated with energy drinks are:
• Caffeine toxicity or poisoning
• Dehydration
• High blood pressure
• Heart palpitations
• Cardiac arrest
• Sudden death

Here’s an update on what’s happening with Energy Drink litigation:
• In November 2012, the Energy Drinks Litigation Group was formed. It supports attorneys handling injury cases relating to energy drink consumption.

• A lawsuit filed by San Francisco city attorney Dennis Herrera (May 6, 2013) claims that the Monster caffeine levels can lead to elevated blood pressure, seizures and cardiac arrest. In October 2012, the parents of 14-year-old Anais Fournier sued Monster after their daughter went into cardiac arrest and died after drinking two 24-ounce cans of Monster Energy drink in less than 24 hours.

• A class-action lawsuit filed in California alleges that some of Monster Energy beverages have a “a toxic and potentially lethal ingredient” called “epicallocatechin-3-gallate,” or ECGC, which has been associated with “dangerous hepatotoxic effects, including without limitation, death, acute liver failure, hepatitis and other liver injuries.”

• In October 2012, a Consumer Reports investigation found that 27 of the most popular brands of energy drinks in the US contained a different amount of caffeine than was on the label, or did not list the amount of caffeine at all.

What Regulators Are Doing

• Regulators have sent letters to the makers of energy drinks asking them to stop marketing their products to children and youth. The letters were sent following a hearing, held on July 31, 2013, before the United States Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, regarding concerns about Monster Energy and other energy drink companies.

• The letters were sent to a variety of energy drink companies, including 5-Hour Energy, AMP Energy, Monster Energy, Rockstar Energy and Red Bull. As noted in the letters, sent jointly by Senators Edward J. Markey, John D. Rockefeller, Richard J. Durbin and Richard Blumenthal, “medical professionals and public health officials have raised serious concerns about the potential risks associated with the consumption of energy drink products by children and teenagers.”