Monster Energy Drink Death: Dustin Hood, 19, Drank Three And A Half ‘Mega’ Monster Energy Cans And Died

Monster Energy Drink is being blamed for the death of a 19-year-old. Dustin Hood drank more than three of the so-called “Mega Monster Energy” drinks — 3.5 of the 24-ounce “Mega Monster Energy” drink cans, to be precise, within one day. According to TMZ , Hood drank all those “Mega Monster Energy” drinks in 2015, in one, 24-hour period, and as soon as Dustin drank his last “Mega Monster Energy” drink, Hood headed off to the basketball concrete court and collapsed. Sadly, Dustin lost his life and died soon after in the hospital. The publication reported that Hood’s father has filed a lawsuit in the wake of Dustin’s cardiac arrhythmia death — because it was caused by an overload of caffeine in the “Mega Monster Energy” drinks..

[Image by Paula Mooney]

As seen in the above photo of a can of “Monster Energy” drink — not the “Mega Monster Energy” 24-ounce drinks but a lesser-sized can of “Monster Energy” — that “Monster Energy” drink contained 70 mg of caffeine per eight fluid ounces. That means that Dustin may have consumed about 735 mg of caffeine in one day — about the equivalent of seven cups of coffee. According to bodybuilding forums , some people can handle 600 mg of caffeine per day, whilst others cannot. Bodybuilders wrote about working their way up to such high levels of caffeine, or not consuming that much in the first place.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than 100 mg of caffeine per day, according to the Mayo Clinic, for adolescents.

According to the lawsuit filed by Hood’s father, the more than three cans of “Mega Monster Energy” drinks contained the same amount of caffeine as if Dustin had drank 14 cans of Coke that were 12 ounces each. That gives readers some perspective of how much caffeine may have been floating around in Hood’s system when he hit the basketball court. But it is not known if Dustin had any sort of pre-existing condition or sensitivity to caffeine that might have exacerbated the heart problem. However, the lawsuit does touch on other cases of people who have suffered heart attacks and had cardiac arrest episodes after drinking plenty of “Monster Energy” drinks — or “acute consumption” of “Monster Energy” drink, as the lawsuit terms the drinking of the “Monster Energy” drinks.

It isn’t known how much money Dustin’s father wants as a result of the death of Hood, whom Dustin’s dad is blaming on “Monster Energy” drinks.

Shout out to @MonsterEnergy for the love! BROS WE MADE IT! pic.twitter.com/QRc6qCNcY6

— teeg (@tjhunt_) January 6, 2017

As seen in the top photo of Tia Barr, the actress can be seen holding a can of “Monster Energy” drink, replete with the signature letter “M” in green writing on the can. Tia was at the Fender Music lodge during the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday, January 19, 2013, in Park City, Utah, when she promoted the “Monster Energy” drink. However, with the newest news about the lawsuit against the “Monster Energy” drink makers, the TMZ article has been shared more than 7,200 times on Facebook, which details Dustin’s death. One reaction to Hood’s lawsuit blaming the “Monster Energy” drink makers for Dustin’s death can be read below.

Strig: “[Three and one-half] cans within 24 hours. That does not sound excessive if you simply hear 3 1/2 sodas in a day. If this is the young boy’s COD, the dad has every right to pursue this legally. (Not that I endorse lawsuits, just find the drinks irritating, irrational, and extremely unhealthy for any age.) Really, if we are all so bedraggled to get to work as full grown adults that we need 14 times the amount of caffeine in one soda, we have larger problems…For teens and everyone else, take the drinks off the shelves, even the one with too many B vitamins booster thing that makes peoples face turn red. Too much is too much, stop bottling excessive amounts in one serving.”

[Featured Image by Jack Dempsey/Invision for Fender/AP Images]