Deaths linked to energy drinks could prompt action

Jayne O'Donnell, USA TODAY | USATODAY

Reports of five deaths and a heart attack linked to Monster Energy drinks should bolster efforts to get the Food & Drug Administration to regulate caffeinated energy drinks, health and safety advocates say.

The Food & Drug Administration says it has received five "adverse event" reports of death and one report of a heart attack "associated" with Monster Energy Drinks. FDA spokeswoman Shelly Burgess said Tuesday that the agency takes all incident reports seriously, and "we ... investigate each report diligently."

Monster Beverage said in a statement Tuesday that "neither the science nor the facts support the allegations that have been made. Monster reiterates that its products are and have always been safe."

The FDA reports were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by Wendy Crossland of Hagerstown, Md. Crossland said in a lawsuit against Monster Beverage that her 14-year-old daughter, Anais Fournier, died in December after drinking Monster Energy for two days in a row.

Crossland "wanted to do everything in her power to make sure young people don't drink energy drinks," says her attorney, Kevin Goldberg.

Monster said in its statement that it "does not believe that its products are in any way responsible for the death of Ms. Fournier."

Still, some say the deaths could lead to FDA action on energy drinks, something Sens. Richard Durbin, D- Ill., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., have been urging since early this year.

"Sometimes, tragedy prompts action even from entrenched bureaucratic skeptics," says Blumenthal. "These tragedies put a face and voice to a very severe danger."

Jim Shepherd of Toronto became an outspoken opponent of energy drinks after his 15-year-old son, Brian, died of a heart arrhythmia in 2008 after drinking a Red Bull free sample at a paint ball tournament. Red Bull says it sympathizes with Shepherd but is not responsible for his son's death.

Shepherd says that despite an "information gap relating to the amount of harm being done" by energy drinks, the federal agency Health Canada agreed to regulate energy drinks as "food" rather than "natural health products" and will require the beverage industry to add mandatory warning labels, meet caffeine limits and limit marketing and advertising to children.

The FDA does not regulate caffeine in energy drinks, which can be marketed as dietary supplements. Blumenthal says he is concerned about natural ingredients that also act as stimulants in the drinks. This combination can be risky for people with undiagnosed heart conditions.

Emergency room visits involving energy drinks increased tenfold between 2005 and 2009, according to a federal report late last year. Half involved the drinks when mixed with alcohol or drugs. Alcohol-laced energy drinks were banned in 2010 after reports of deaths and illnesses,

While energy drink companies can't legally sell versions with liquor now, some appear to condone it. On its website, Red Bull says "there is no scientifically substantiated reason why Red Bull Energy Drink should not, like any other drink, be mixed with alcohol." Amelia Arria, an University of Maryland public health epidemiologist who has written several energy drink studies, says there are several that are peer reviewed that show energy drinks "mask the effects of alcohol" -- people drink more because they are highly stimulated.