clinical undiagnosed conditions). Regardless of how Energy Drink companies choose to classify themselves, the bottom line is that right now they are being marketed to teenagers and young adults, and many of these individuals should not be drinking energy drinks because they are dangerous. Many of whom may have unknown cardiac conditions, and these vulnerable consumers are putting themselves at risk by consuming energy drinks.
LAS: Let’s get back to the wrongful death lawsuit that you and the R. Rex Parris Law Firm filed on behalf of the Fournier Family. How did this claim first come about?
KG: Anais’s parent’s main goal is to make sure that no other children die as a result of consuming energy drinks. To this end, the family has done a tremendous amount of research on energy drink dangers and other deaths and injuries from energy drinks; and has spent a lot of time meeting with experts and legislators from various communities.
At some point, the Freedom of Information Act was used to obtain FDA adverse event reports potentially linking other deaths and injuries from the consumption of Monster, Red Bull, and other Energy Drinks. To be honest, we were shocked that there were as many adverse event reports as there were, and even more surprised that despite the accumulation of FDA Adverse Event Reports at the FDA, nobody at the agency was doing anything to inform the public about the potential dangers of energy drinks. We provided copies of the adverse event reports to the press, and soon after that, newspaper articles and media coverage about the dangers of energy drinks increased.
Senators Dick Durbin and Richard Blumenthal got involved. They have implored the FDA to improve the safety of energy drinks by taking stronger regulatory action and limiting the legal amount of caffeine. As well, health experts are concerned about the lack of warnings regarding caffeine consumption and that some products don’t even disclose the amount of caffeine on their labels.
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"...for Monster to say that its products are completely safe is very troubling"
- Attorney Kevin Goldberg
amount of caffeine (which had already previously been disclosed by the press), but avoid having to report adverse events by reclassifying itself to a traditional Beverage. I am sure that the Monster decision makers weighed the bottom line impact of classifying as a Dietary Supplement versus as a traditional Food/Beverage. The problem is that from a policy perspective, the company should not be choosing how they are categorized and how they will be regulated. That is the responsibility of our government, the FDA and ultimately our elected officials.
Energy Drinks can be dangerous and deadly to any individual with an underlying heart condition (even sub
Anais Fournier's family is now suing Monster Beverage (Photo: abc2news.com)