Monster Beverage Lawsuit: Energy Drinks, Caffeine Toxicity Not Seen In Anais Fournier Medical Evidence
A Monster beverage lawsuit by the family of Anais Fournier claims that energy drinks were the cause of death. But in response to the monster beverage lawsuit, company lawyers point out that the so-called “caffeine toxicity” listed in medical evidence due to the mother saying so, not because of blood tests.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr, the lawyers for the Monster beverage lawsuit claim there is currently no scientific evidence that proves Anais Fournier died after consuming two of its 24-ounce Monster drinks in the span of two days. They point out that Anais Fournier also frequented Starbucks reglarly, and that the the teenager had a condition called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
The Wall Street Journal reports that lawyer Daniel Callahan spoke about the Monster beverage lawsuit:
“When the Maryland Medical Examiner was asked why her report contained the term ‘caffeine toxicity,’ she responded that it was because she had been told by Ms. Fournier’s mother that Ms. Fournier had consumed an energy drink containing caffeine. This was even though her report states that blood tests for caffeine levels were not done. In fact, the physicians, including a coroner, we asked to examine Ms. Fournier’s medical records and autopsy report found no medical, scientific or factual evidence to support a finding of caffeine toxicity. They said no caffeine blood level test was performed to determine if any caffeine had been ingested. There is no medical or scientific evidence that Ms. Fournier had any caffeine in her system at the time of cardiac arrest.”
UPI.com points out that “a 24-ounce can of Monster contains 240 milligrams of caffeine. A 16-ounce cup of coffee from Starbucks, by comparison, has 330 milligrams.” If the parents of Anais Fournier are correct, then in two days Fournier consumed 480 milligrams of caffeine from Monster beverage energy drinks in two days. If she also attended Starbucks and ordered the grande, or medium, size she would have consumed 660 milligrams of caffeine due to coffee alone.
According to ABC, Dr. Christopher Holstege, director of toxicology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, says even this dosage of caffeine is not dangerous. Further, they point out that “a 41-year-old woman lived after consuming 50 grams of caffeine, up to 10 times more than what’s considered a lethal dose, according to a 2003 Journal of Toxicology article.”
If caffeine is the cause of death for Anais Fournier then the facts of the Monster beverage lawsuit seem to indicate that coffee, not energy drinks, might have been a larger factor. What do you think of the Monster beverage lawsuit?
