Monster Beverage Lawsuit Based on False Pretenses, Company Says
The company who produces the popular energy drink Monster is fighting back at claims that the energy drink is responsible for the death of a 14-year-old girl.
The girl, Anais Fournier of Maryland, began having problems in December of 2011 after drinking two 24-ounce cans of the Monster beverage within a 24-hour period. She then later went into cardiac arrest and died.
But the maker of the energy drink is fighting back at allegations that the caffeine levels in their drinks are unsafe for adolescent consumption.
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Monster's lawyer, Daniel Callahan, revealed that the company hired a team of doctors to examine the medical records in the case. The documents showed that the young girl died of natural causes resulting from her pre-existing heart condition, according to the Associated Press.
Callahan added that the autopsy report was inaccurate, as it was based partly on interviews with Fournier's mother, who detailed that her daughter had consumed the energy drinks before her death.
However, the energy drink's maker said that no blood test was performed that could confirm if the girl had died from "caffeine toxicity."
The two drinks that Fournier consumed contained a combined total of 480 milligrams of caffeine, about 14 cans of Coca-Cola, which is about five times the amount that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends.
Kevin Goldberg, attorney for Fournier's family, explained that only a jury can find who is responsible in this case and is looking forward to the trial getting underway.
"In America, a jury of our peers determines justice. Not doctors paid by billion-dollar corporations to attend press conferences," he told Reuters.
Labeling on Monster's energy drinks does state that the drinks are not for children or pregnant women, but Goldberg insists this is misleading as Monster has stated its target market is 18 to 34 years.
The Food and Drug Administration is also currently investigating reports of other child deaths that are reportedly linked to energy drinks, but the agency stresses that the reports do not show that energy drinks caused any of the deaths.
