February 23, 2016 — Monster Beverage Corp. is facing five lawsuits from a Florida-based law firm representing people who were injured by heart attack, stroke, and kidney failure after consuming energy drinks.
WESH News reports that the law firm is investigating claims on behalf of more than 100 people. The lawsuits accuse Monster of negligence for failing to adequately warn about the risk of health problems.
Before 2013, the beverages were marketed as “dietary supplements” and avoided listing the amount of caffeine on the label. According to attorneys:
“Deprived of this important information, consumers were unable to make informed decisions on what they were putting in their body.”
One of the plaintiffs is Brian Smith, a man from Washington who drank two cans of Monster Energy in the morning and two more while driving home from work. He experienced a severe headache and was diagnosed with a cerebral hemorrhage (bleeding in the brain). Mr. Smith estimates that the drinks contained 640-milligrams of caffeine — about as much as 18 cans of Coca Cola, according to the Seattle PI.
Another lawsuit was filed by a man who was hospitalized with stage-4 kidney disease. The plaintiff, Robert Grim, says he drank a can of Monster Energy every day for the last 10 years. Lawyers cited a study recently published in JAMA linking energy drinks to unsafe increases in blood pressure and stress hormones within 30 minutes.
The litigation against Monster has been growing since 2012, when the first lawsuit was filed. The victim was a 14 year-old girl who died of cardiac arrest after drinking two cans of Monster Energy in quick succession. Another wrongful death lawsuit was filed on behalf of a 19 year-old man who died of a heart attack in 2012.
Do I have an Energy Drink Lawsuit?
The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting energy drink induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has been diagnosed with a heart attack, stroke, or kidney failure, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Product Liability Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.
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