Plaintiff Awaiting Kidney Is a Grim Reaper of Hope in the Face of Monster

Tucson, AZThe health concerns that have emerged from lawsuits and subsequent headlines screaming Monster Energy Drink Deaths and Hospitalizations tend to be weighted on the side of cardiovascular issues related to consumption of the high levels of caffeine usually associated with the consumption of energy drinks.

But Robert Grim is suffering from a health issue not immediately associated with Monster drink contents: kidney failure. The Arizona man claims, in a Monster Energy Drink Injury lawsuit against the beverage manufacturer, that daily consumption of Monster energy drinks and the monster caffeine levels that go along with it, is costing him his kidney.

As of February, he was on a wait list for a kidney transplant.

The Daily Beast (2/11/16), in a blog entitled “Death Juice,” has his story. Not long after consuming a Monster energy drink, Grim was driving to his place of employ when he suddenly began experiencing nausea and his vision blurred. Quickly pulling over to the side of the road, he called in sick and carefully made his way back home when it was safe to do so.

At home, his symptoms only worsened. Rushed to the emergency room later that day, Grim’s case papers reveal that he was suffering from Stage 4 kidney disease. He now needs a kidney transplant to survive.

The tragedy is that Grim is a young man: “twentysomething,” according to the report. He’s also a young father. And yet Grim, like many others before him, had bought into the energy drink mantra and promise of safe, instant energy needed to get through the day. Thus, according to court records, he had maintained a habit of consuming no fewer than four cans of Monster energy drink contents each day for about 10 years.

And then his world collapsed on him - as have the worlds of countless others who allege to have suffered serious health consequences or having lost a loved one, allegedly through the use of such products.

Many of the alleged victims have been young. Grim, for his part, is now on regular dialysis until a new kidney is available.

According to his energy drink lawsuit, the monster caffeine levels he was consuming each day (four, 16-ounce cans) carried the equivalent of caffeine found in eighteen, 12-ounce cans of Coca-Cola. He’s one of five individuals who filed a Monster drink contents lawsuit against Monster Beverage Corp. in February.

The claim is that caffeine levels in energy drinks - Monster among them - are unsafe, with risks for heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular issues, and renal failure (kidney dysfunction).

Monster has claimed that there is no more caffeine in a 16-ounce can than there is in a good strong cup of gourmet coffee. However, young people, to whom Monster Energy drinks are marketed, have been known to drink several in a day, and often “throwing them back” in a couple of gulps, providing an instant caffeine hit.

To some, it has been alleged, that hit of caffeine and other ingredients that mimic the effects of caffeine can be dangerous and lead to Monster Energy Drink injury.

The Daily Beast tells the tale of John Staten, who was just 14 when he suffered a stroke in February 2012. Staten had been consuming three, 24-ounce cans of Monster drink contents each day over a three-month period in an attempt to boost his energy for wrestling competition at school.

The caffeine equivalency was twenty-one, 12-ounce cans of Coca-Cola per day, according to the lawsuit filed by Staten and his family against Monster Beverage Corp.

All seemed to be fine until the day Staten collapsed with numbness on his left side, and difficulty speaking. Doctors initially suspected a pinched nerve, until an MRI revealed the stroke.

Like Grim, Staten’s life will never be the same, allegedly due to Monster drink contents.