Sounds like this girl drank too much of the wrong things (including coffee) and aggravated a pre-existing condition. Know what you're putting in your bodies, people.

It sounds like the coroner who did the autopsy drew conclusions without having the evidence to support them, probably based at least partially on statements made by the parents. If the girl died of caffeine toxicity then it would show in blood tests. Even if she had died of caffeine toxicity it would be take an analysis of the stomach contents to have any hope of proving the source was Monster energy drink. Even if they had all that, the drinks have a warning on them that they should not be consumed by minors and a 14 year old girl is obviously capable of reading that warning. This girl was obviously also aware of her medical condition and that drinking caffeine was not good for her. This is just typical parents looking for anyone but themselves to blame for their daughter's death and looking for a windfall from this tragedy. They are not doubt being egged on with this suit by some ambulance chasing lawyer looking for some easy money. It sounds like this case is likely to get thrown out on summary judgement.

why were the parents of this child allowing her to get coffee and Starbucks and energy drinks if she had a heart problem??????????????

Two cans over 2 days? I'm not a medical expert, but that doesn't seem that much. How much coffee do some people drink? A lot for a 14 year old girl, yes, but enough to kill? I seriously doubt that. She had a pre-existing condition. At worst, the Monster caused complications to that condition, but according to Wiki, the package already contains a label stating not to drink more than 48 oz in a day. She had that over 2.

Maybe society should sue the parents for letting their 14 year-old consume energy drinks. I feel badly for their loss but I hope they walk away from their lawsuit without one thin dime.

How are you going to stop a 14 year old from purchasing anything that a 14 year old can purchase? A kid is going to do what they want at that age. Like the guy above said, two cans in two days? I would be curious as to the balance of caffeine in this drink vs a Mountain Dew. The "original" monster drink.

That stuff is pure crap. All of the athletes that endorse this poison have special bottles of it filled with water when they have pics taken with it. They simply could not perform well after drinking that Amp Juice. Rockstar, Monster, all of it. Kids should never drink it and adults should know better.

How typical. Parents that don't want the responsibility of parenting. If she was consuming that much caffeine at 14 she's most likely been consuming it for years. I think a wrongful parenting suit would be more apt.

Toosano- sure about that? I know plenty of top athletes (football players, triathletes, basketball players) who guzzle the stuff like mad.

Skup:

Typical response. Blame the parents is the battle cry of clueless people everywhere. You can talk to your children until you lose your voice, but the bottom line is that people regardless of age are going to do whatever they want to until something bad happens period.

There was a "Good Wife" episode recently about an energy drink and death with pre-existing conditions. And lawyers, of course. Duh.

joe- what a stupid comment - yes people will do whatever but the whole point of being a parent is to at least try to stop your kids from going bag-@!$%# stupid and not say oh well lets go the lawsuit way instead. they may have done all they could and i'm sorry the kid died but this lawsuit is just stupid.

Hummmmmmmmm I love these politicians That want to jump on anything that"might" .....

Alderman Edward Burke's proposal to ban energy drinks because he says they may post a hazard to health

Your gonna ban something that "MIGHT?" ..lol

I don't drink the stuff ... so it matters little to me ... BUT there are literately thousands of products on the market ..that might be harnfull to your health and even kill you ...if you have the wrong reaction to them ....

I think the best known .. is peanuts ... causing a allergic reaction because the body's overreaction to certain proteins in peanuts ... Some say it's a alergy of "Epidemic" perportion ... Really ? the numbers dont show that ... less than a thousand people a year die of food allergies in the US each year .. (the unoffical numbers are believed to be between 150 and 200) ..in a population of over 300 million .. thats not much ..

The point is we all have to ..if we are responsible ... know what we are allergic too .. and act accordingly ... no government has the legitimate right to ban anything that doesn't represent a genuine threat to large numbers of citizens .......

Bye the Bye ... Marijuana is a schedule 1 substance, the class of the most dangerous drugs on the planet according to our Government and legislators ..... There has never been a death with a proved association with this drug ...

Probation doesn't work .... and banning any substance because it "MIGHT" harm someone is absurd!

How are you going to stop a 14 year old from purchasing anything that a 14 year old can purchase?

Ban energy drinks...just like Washington (and many other states) is proposing that legal guns be banned. Just ban everything for that matter...including human life.

"If we can save just ONE LIFE..."

This is like letting your kids drink soda if they're diabetic. This girl should not have been drinking energy drinks and starbucks coffee at all, let alone being only 14

I suffer a heart condition. At 33, I was in a state of ventricular tachycardia in the back of an ambulance. The pain, added to by the anxiety of the circumstances, and then the feeling of suffocation from a lack of sufficient blood oxygenation, due to the rapidly rising heart rate. Scary crap. Docs said to slow down on the caffeine. Well, I still drink a pot of coffee a day, and if I croak from it, it's my fault. I'm sorry this girl died, and I'm sure she didn't go painlessly all of a sudden, because heart failure isn't instantaneous death. It still takes a few seconds for everything else to shut down, and you are likely still somewhat aware of what is transpiring until brain function ceases. I don't think that the lawsuit has merit, if there is no physical evidence, backed by testing, to state the actual cause. I'm sorry, but I hope they do not succeed, unless it is proven through proper testing, that their claim is true.

Sounds like the best way to get over being a bad parent is to sue someone else for it

Tuesdays and Thursdays I drink 1 TWO LITER bottle of strong (make it myself) Coffee. Sometimes I even throw in a bit of sugar free energy drink, too. Sort of makes it difficult to sleep Tue and Thu - but aside from that, no effect. I drank 2.5X her TWO day total (but being HONEST, IF I had a KNOWN heart condition, the LAST thing I would want to drink is a heart rate / blood pressure increasing energy drink.) She did it to herself. IF she had put a gun to her head, it would have been the same result

Such bull@!$%#. Instead of doing what is normally required and the coroner proving the drinks killed her, Monster is forced to prove that they didn't. That's absolutely ass backwards.

My children are very healthy with no known existing conditions. The oldest being 16 and I do not allow him or any of the others to drink caffeinated products period. I would think that because the parents themselves knew about their childs existing condition, that they also would have prevented her from having access to any product they knew would aggravate the condition let alone supplying her with the money to not only buy the Monster products, but also supplying her with the money to overdose herself at starbucks etc. If the parents have other children and they also have existing conditions, then just maybe their state's child welfare department should be investigating before they also have a deadly reaction.

Chris from Yucaipa

Hey Chris, My family and I spent the day at Yucaipa park yesterday. Wonderful place to spend a family day outing.

Some parents give their children guidance and some don't.... When you don't give them any guidance your children can end up making some poor choices, like this poor girl.

Or their friends talk them in to doing exactly the opposite of what their parents tell them not to do. I'm sure that is extremely rare however...............

There's no way that 2 energy drinks in 2 days killed this girl. When I was 16 I took 11 extra strength Nodoz (200 milligrams of caffiene a piece) that's 2200 milligrams of caffiene all at once...and I'm not dead. These people are just looking to blame someone for their daughter's death an make some money off it, what a bunch of low-lives.

@blondeness032 well said.

I was going to say something similiar, how about instead of blaming a corporation, you take care of your kids and monitor what they are doing, I know right!! What an aweful thing to say, I mean if you have kids you just need to take care of them until they can walk, then you can just let them do whatever the @!$%# they want.

And most importantly if you aren't going to teach them responsibility for their own actions, why bother having kids. Just because you can have kids doesn't mean you should, and if you can't afford them, you shouldn't be having them either, it's not the gov't job to raise your kids or teach them the policies they learn in school it's yours.

If you are not going to take care of your kids until they are at least 18 and guide them with their medical issues, then don't have them. If you aren't going to discipline them, teach them right from wrong, teach them to support themselves then don't have them. Self reliance is a wonderful thing taught by few anymore.

I say put a ban on energy drinks and high capacity cans

Why ban? Alcohol is age restricted and so are tobacco products. Do the same with energy drinks. Too many kids are drinking something that they don't really need just for the rush. They're abusing them and when medical conditions get involved things can happen. Seriously, if a 14 year old thinks they need to be drinking energy drinks, then I hate to see them when they're 40.

Mike,

Do you know what your kids drink at their friends' houses? Or when they're not in your presence? Or are you one of those crazy parents who keeps their children in front of them at all times? A parent can teach and guide, but in the end, the kids make their own decisions.

Looks like Chicago (Obamanation Central) wants to ban yet another item for their black markets. Detroit, stock up, they'll be coming!

I'm calling BS on this claim. 1-16oz can of Monster has, at most, 184mg of caffeine in it. 1-8oz cup of coffee has 108mg of caffiene. If this girl has 2 - 16 oz cans of Monster in 2 days, that would be the equivalent of 3.4 cups of coffee over the course of two days, or 1.7 cups of coffee per day.

@MrsWilbert

A parent can teach and guide, but in the end, the kids make their own decisions.

Exactly the kid also has to take responsibilty to thier actions. I hate when people only blame the parents when both the parents and the teen are at fault. 14 is an age where a teen is supposed to practice some common sense and know that all actions have consequences and yet this girl refused to use her common sense and faced the consequences. The parents are also at fault here since they are supposed to guide thier guide if they see her make terrible descisions but these parents have given her too much freedom or did not care enough to stop her . I hate these kinds of stories since the company is not at fault here and the parents are just trying to get moner out of a situtation thier actions had caused! I would like to say I feel bad for them but it is difficult to do so for parents who refuse to take any blame and a teen who did not practice the use of responisbility and common sense. I hope everyone takes this as a lesson that we all must begin to take care of ourselves and face the consequences if thisng go wrong !

Also banning is not the answer unless people begin to take responisibility for thier actions incidents like this will continue to happen and we will find someone else who to blame who had no fault in this what so ever .

What will we ban next :

Candy

Guns

Sugar

Salty food

Knives

etc. just because someone does not know how to use common sense and not take responsibility afterwards !

well if the monster drink didn't do it, I guess the 7 year old that chewed a "PopTart" to look like a gun did!!!!!!!

moonbeamracer, thank you for that, Marijuana is considered a very dangerous schedule 1 drug, can't even be studied it's so dangerous our govt. says. But it has NEVER caused one death. What does that tell you? Our govt. doesn't want it researched because it can and does cure cancer. But big pharma does not want that as they can't make money from cures, only illness. Same with the 2nd hand smoke - scare the people so they can tax it more.2nd hand smoke is a joke played on the people. Now they are going after the fat folks, new study yesterday said if a pregnant mom ate junk food, her baby was addicted more than heroin.

I saw this article when it first came out a couple of weeks or so ago (not exactly sure when) and that article said she had consumed them at the same time, one after another, now they're saying it was over a two day period? I'm confused.

rockyxxxx

moonbeamracer, thank you for that, Marijuana is considered a very dangerous schedule 1 drug, can't even be studied it's so dangerous.

Where'd you get that bull@!$%# claim from? I can give you a dozen university studies from 2012 alone and at least 50 in the last 5 years. I know you're trying to make a point, but you lose any credibility when you have to lie to do it.

Alex, yes, I'm sure. I'm involved in a pro sport. They have cases of it containing water.
Try golfing after a couple of those!

I've golfed after drinking them and I did fine, although my hands got a little shaky. Im not sure what generic "pro" sport you're involved in, Toosano, but there are no conspiracies involving energy drinks with the pro (and college) sports I'm familiar with. The football players I see drinking Red Bull are actually drinking it, not a can filled with water.

By the way - did you know that drinking too much water can cause serious health problems? If I over-dose on water should I sue my water company for making it available, or should I be smart enough to understand what "moderation" means?

I feel bad for this family for losing a child, but blaming a can of soda is just stupid. Monsters only real fault is that their drinks taste like crap. If I have a heart condition and I make the conscious decision to over load my system with stimulants like caffeine, then thats my fault... nobody made me do it.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!NEWSFLASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!NEWSFLASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Energy Drinks are Bad for You. Don't Drink Them.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!NEWS FLASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!NEWS FLASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Think . . .
I don't know of any conspiracies either. All I said was that most of the pros (motor sports) I know drink the cans of energy drink with the water in them. They're marked H2O on the bottoms usually. I can't speak for football players but I'll ask a pro golfer friend of mine what he thinks.
Also, I'm pretty sure that you'd OD on energy drink before you'd OD on water. Nice stretch.
I'm sure we can agree that the stuff is rotgut shoved down the throats of people who are a bit ignorant of the health issues involved.

I just saw this the other day on TV on The Good Wife. A company was getting sued for some energy drink they were making that supposedly killed a young girl because of its ingredients. I wonder if the producers of The Good Wife got their idea from this case or if the lawyer in this case got his idea to sue from The Good Wife. Or is it just coincidence?

Unless they poured it down her throat, just how is it their fault that she died from a preexisting condition that both she and her parents knew about. It was either going to be Monster or Starbucks..I'm shocked I tell you....

It isn't Monsters fault. There are warnings on the label and the girl had a pre-existing condition. She did this to herself unfortunately. Now, I am not blaming the parents completely because there were things I did at 14 that my parents don't know about. However, this lawsuit is a load of crap and they are merely trying to cash in on their daughters death, kind of disgusting if you ask me. Also, she had 2 cans in 2 DAYS, sorry but that is not a lot of caffeine. The real question here is what else did she ingest, how many trips to starbucks in those 2 days, and don't forget the PRE-EXISTING CONDITION?

So what? Until they can prove that any of that 'crap' killed her, they shouldn't be allowed to sue over it.

And there is a lot of other crap in just about anything you buy off a shelf to eat or drink in this day and age. Ingredients are printed on the labels so try reading them sometime.

Bdubs-------- thats the problem; kids nowdays are to damn stupid, or lazy to read!!!!!!!

Why don't we ban all lawyers?

We can't ban lawyers! Who would we get to sue to make sure the bans went in place? I say we ban people that want to ban things!

Brad: All extremest should be put to death!!!!!!!

Thanks for the laugh Robert. Irony doesn't always play well on the internets but you nailed that one.

On a serious note, banning doesn't work for much of anything. If something is problematic you would have far more success with meaningful regulation than an outright ban. We also need to learn to accept the fact that human beings will not be totally controlled, so sometimes people will circumvent the most well intentioned regulation. This doesn't mean that we should not have any regulation, what this means is that this never-ending trend towards more and more draconian punishments in an attempt to get 100% compliance with any law is an exercise in stupidity.

Ban drugs! Oh wait...we just legalized it.... Ban Alcohol! tried......Ban tobacco! went up in smoke..... Ban guns! oh shoot... Ban Fishing!! oh wait, we tell you to eat that as a healthy diet.. Ban meat! Ban Big Cokes! Ban Toys at Fast Food Places!! Ban frying oil!! Ban Baby Boomers!!

We are running out of chit to ban.

No one in the US takes responsibility for what they put in their bodies. Ingest now, sue later. This is how we operate.

Optomyst-

Why don't we ban all lawyers?

and high capacity mouths

We should ban using the word ban.....

You must not have a 14 year old. Parents don't "give" their kids that crap to drink. Neither can they control every moment of the child's day. The girl probably just wanted to fit in and be normal and MAYBE caused her own death. I am wondering why she didn't have a pacemaker.

Ahh yes, by all means. Let's excuse the parents for not being able to control their kids, but sue the corporation for not being able to. Also, as a parent of 3 children from 13 - 16 I know what it is to have them and not be able to control what they do. Nevertheless they are my responsibility, not yours, or anyone else's and certainly not the responsiblity of some business.

Granny, I'm not buying those excuses. You're just acting like the parents and deflecting the blame elsewhere. They may not have given her the drinks, but they, at the very least, allowed her to have them and let her drink them. I mean really, how would they have even known she consumed the drinks and how many if they weren't aware she was drinking them? They obviously knew and they let her drink them anyway.

Jaime,

How can a parent "allow" what they don't know about? The kid is at a friends, they go to the corner store, she buys a drink. It could have been a Coke, a Slurpee, iced tea, but she bought Monster. Do YOU monitor EVERYTHING your kids do 24/7? There is no way a parent can and have the child be anywhere near independent when full grown. Helicopter parenting should be banned! That's why we have very few responsible adults now.

But what I don't get is this; If there is nothing wrong with the parents then why are they suing Monster? It seems to me they are blaming the group that's probably the least to blame for the whole thing. They are capitalizing on their daughter's death. That's just plain wrong.

That's what, about 4 cups of coffee?

I don't know that it's "unhealthy," but anything in excess can be lethal - dose makes the poison.

No kidding, "Jenny".

I live in a very new age state in a very new age health conscious town (Boulder Colorado). Most people here know of the dangers of having too much coffee/caffeine and most try to limit (and sometimes even substitute) with other natural teas. There are some who do partake of the energy drinks but most not to excess that I know of. It is just understood in a health conscious place.

And never with heart conditions. That is just an accident waiting to happen. This affects the nervous system (obviously, revving up the nerves and blood flow) and whatever does that you have to be very, very careful.

Or not partake at all. I don't. I am not that stupid. You can find energy in a lot of foods that really get you awake, vital, and have that 10am morning energy all day.

And who knows, you may live longer and have more of a quality of life, people.

2 days a week I suck down about 1350mg over a 4 hour period (64 ounces of coffee - artificially sweetened, cold) My main problem is going to sleep that night - even if the bottle is FINISHED by 9

Absurd; isn't it.

I do hope you aren't serious?

Sarcasm, Optomyst.

A font really needs to be developed for it....

Seriously, that is dumb. People need to exercise some personal responsibility. Where were the parents? Not around obviously...

Exactly why we need the largest possible government that near bancruptcy can buy, to insure that no individual is vulnerable to relying on common sense, education, parental oversight or personal accountability for their decisions.

Bmouser, when you were 14 were your parents following behind you watching every move you made?

Somehow I doubt it.

Kids will do what they will do. They are invincible at that age. Or at least they think they are.

The parents knew the child had a medical condition, and I'm assuming that the girl knew as well. You can give people information, but you can't force them to listen to it or act upon it.

It's no different than telling people that drugs are bad for you, or smoking, or drinking. There will always be people who think they are different. That it will not happen to them.

Kids especially have this view.

remember when the woman bought a cup of hot coffee from McD's, out it between her legs and drove off, hitting a bump and spilling HOT coffee onto her legs? THEN she sued McD's (and even WON - so NOW McD's coffee cups have labels telling you the coffee is HOT (WELL...DUH - and which I why I drink my cold except in freezing weather - IF I spill it, all I get is "wet".)

Watch Hot Coffee (really good tort documentary) or read up on that case, Fork. The lady wanted her medical bills paid, that's all. McD's basically told her to shove it. She looked into it and McD's had been told MANY times to reduce the temp of their coffee to avoid possible lawsuits. They should've listened.

A few years back at our local fair, a teenager, with a known heart condition, passed away after going on one of the rides. The teen knew that such rides were bad for him, but he chose to go on it anyway. His parents did not sue.

To the people who are comparing their (high intake) caffeine habits with that of a young teen with a known heart condition, it's apples to oranges. Although your choices may be unhealthy, they would not be immediately fatal to you. Her heart condition (should have) dictated her diet, the same as a diabetic child, or even a child with peanut allergies. Some children are perfectly capable of grasping the potential dangers of their illnesses, some can't. My heart goes to out the parents, but they really should ditch the lawyer.

actually, by drinking commercially available drinks, it is pretty much impossible to OD on caffeine. i did the research last time this article got posted, but a fatal dose is somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 GRAMS of caffeine, would take like 1000 cans of energy drink to hit a fatal dose of caffeine.

that may be the lethal dose as a "poison" - the stimulant dose may be much lower and depends on the individual - in this case she just overstimulated her heart.

Salma Hayek does that to me, but I have no intention of banning her.

Have you ever gone to a Starbucks, or a mall and watched the kids, it's all coffee and energy drinks know!

I agree, but it can be very difficult to monitor what teens put in their bodies. When my son was 14/15 we noticed a change in behavior. He became very agitated all the time, emotional and his grades were slipping. We took him to the Dr. and she found out that he and his teammates were regularly drinking energy drinks before practice. We had no idea and he did not think these were unhealthy. Once he stopped he was back to normal.

These drinks really are not good for you and especially kids and teens. They not only have a good amount of caiine, but a great deal of sugar. While I do not believe in arbitrarily sueing whenever something bad happens, or banning things because people cannot take personal responsibility, I do believe that companies have an obligation to make certain the products they market list all of the ingedients and have sufficient warnings and contraindications when there is potentially a hazard.

I can agree with that, I was a teenager, you think we listened to our parents, off course because we were perfect. I didn't due those drugs at that Zeppelin concert! I stayed away from those nasty girls that wanted to teach me funny things ;-}

I was an angel.... Of course I broke rules as a teenager. But I am allergic to shell fish so I didn't eat them, she had a heart condition but consumed caffeine in abundance. That's just stupid.

Kids make mistakes, and sometimes they are fatal. Anyway it has to be devastating, but Monster's cash won't change what happened.

doncha know NUTTIN? KIDS ARE IMMORTAL (in their eyes, anyway)

I know I was Fork.

Mom,

Do you have your children attached to you by a leash? If not, then I guarantee they are(or will) do things you may not wholly approve of. She was 14, not 4. And for the record, I am a mother of a 22 year old and 14 year old. I know she hits Starbucks at the mall. But she's also smart enough to not get a Venti and how much caffeine keeps her up. She also has no caffeine on school nights. You can teach and guide them, but in the end, you have to TRUST them to make their own decisions. They're going to have to eventually.

Of course I don't have them attached by the leash, I have and I am teaching them to think responsibly. I have a 21yr, 14yr, 9yr, 8yr and 7yr old. My two oldest daughters tell me everything. Even when they make the wrong decision. I am saying that I control what they eat or drink in my house. We have a great relationship built on trust. I am not naive to think that they don't push the limits but they tell me when they do and we discuss their decisions so they can learn from them. They confide in me problems that their friends are having and ask me for advice on how to handle the situation. They are great kids and they would be smart enough not to consume a ton of caffeine if they had diagnosed medical conditions.

Either the parents knew she was drinking the Monster (she had 2 in 2 days right?) and ignored it or they didn't know and somehow found out later. I suspect they knew all along.

Not unlike the family suing Coke for the woman who died after drinking 4 liters a day, had her teeth removed and had constant health problems...the sugar and caffeine may have deteriorated her body, but something was wrong well before then.

I think I've heard of that....drowning isn't it

so do we cut off access to mountain dew? how about JOLT - all the sugar and twice the caffeine (in 12 ox cans)

Jolt cola is still around???? I thought it was banned. Well maybe here.

Jolt...thanks, the 80's called and want their drink back. I did see it branded under a "battery-like" can and now in aluminum cans...but as an energy drink...and gum too!!! Mt. Dew 54 mg, Diet Coke 47mg, McDonalds coffee 16oz=100mg!!!

There is in fact a lawsuit currently in California were a woman died from drinking too much water as part of a radio contest. Very sad situation. Everyone loses.

water is like beer - you don't own it you only RENT it. I get this yellow line right across the middle of my eyeballs when the bladder annunciator warning is getting ready to squeal...

now that definitely is a good idea!

Now just wait a second if we ban politicians who are we going to complain about? Lawyers?

Politicians are lawyers. Two birds, one stone.

Not all lawyers are bad. The kind that sue, do divorce, class actions... should be hung. My lady does contract law for a company that sells gasses to medical, oil, and welding companies. Her type of law protects assests and lives. Carry on!

We have lawyers so nobody has to be accountable! Even the lawyers have a law saying they aren't responsible if they screw up. I don't think it's legal since lawyers got it passed by and for themselves, for there own protection. So I don't think it would hold up in a real court.

Actually, we just all need to hold ourselves responsible for our own actions.

What you also do is to start to make lawyers and plaintiffs responsible for all court charges. If a case is frivolous or they lose, they have to pay the costs. If they win, they can recover these costs in any awards or settlements. It would certainly cut down the number of unfounded suits filed.

Actually, it is illegal to serve alcohol to people under 21 in most (if not all) states.

You don't have children, do you Reyes? Those little ones can get into trouble even with eagle eyes watching their every move. Besides, it would not be the parents' fault if she had a medical condition and there is nothing to indicate that this girl was "weak minded." Usually, we receive that term for those who can't read or write and whose grammar sucks - like yours...

Besides, it would not be the parents' fault if she had a medical condition

But Monster should be at fault because she had a medical condition????

BearBart - Whether or not the child walks the straight and narrow or not still doesn't equate to a wrongful death lawsuit against Monster. Besides, you can't possibly expect anyone to believe that her parents had no clue she was frequenting Starbucks or drinking Monsters.

really? because to have a toxic effect in an adult, you'd need to drink over 1000 drinks in a 4 hour period. there's about the same amount of caffeine in an energy drink as in a cup of iced tea. yep, someone sure needs to NAIL them....

So when the next kid dies for stuffing 10 bags of pop rocks in their mouth and drinks a coke, Who are you going to sue first? Coca cola or the candy maker??? WTF is this kid doing drinking 2 24 oz. cans in a days time??/ Better yet, WTF is wrong with the parents who let her do it???

BearBart,

Monster, did not sell it to her. Monster made it. A store sold it to her, her parents may never told her want this could do to her, if she drank coffee, a soft drink/w caffeine that her parents allowed, this is confirmation it is alright to drink caffeine. if her parents drink these she sees it, this means it is alright, if her friends do it most likely she wants to. Unfortunately Bear I am speaking out of my AZZ. She may just have wanted to try it, but I doubt it, 2, 48 oz she drank this stuff before and liked it. No trouble than, why now? What went wrong this time?

Seriously, blame everyone but the parents who were obviously not around? Frivolous lawsuit!

I think you'll find it much harder to prove anything negative about caffeine, even in large dosages - it's one of the few things NOT tied to cancer or directly to causing heart disease, diabetes, etc. etc.

If it were a killer, I'd have been dead years ago - I'm usually sipping on hi-test coffee during most of my awake hours. I also had a heart attack some 13 years ago now, and my physician knows of my caffeine consumption and finds nothing wrong with it.

I'm in the "more responsible parenting" camp on this one - they should have educated their daughter better on the risks of caffeine consumption given her other health matters.

How is it their fault that a 14-year old girl drank too much of their adult product? What parent lets their 14-year old girl with heart problems "dr[i]nk coffee regularly and frequent[] Starbucks shops?"

If you drink too much water you die, like the College Frat story. Electrolytes got so diluted from the kidneys trying to keep up, the potassium levels drop to a fatal level. I didn't hear anyone blaming the water company on that one. So why would Monster take the blame.