Dad Sues Energy Drink Maker Over Death of Son, 19

[UCSMiami]

When I see headlines like the above I think of the other young fellow who died from caffeine overdose and my own experiences with tongkat ali. It is dangerous to use your own body as a laboratory test.

Dad Sues Monster Energy Drink Maker for Death of 19-Year-Old Son Dustin Hood

 

[Ricky10]

Hmm...3 of those bad boys. Obviously this is a case off irresponsibility abusing the product. I suspect Monster has warnings cleared printed on the can as well as suggested and/or max dose. There is always going to be that special someone that takes things too far.

What happened to you with Tongat Ali?

 

[UCSMiami]

Never had an energy drink.

Went "Viking beserker" for 8 hours on Tongkat Ali. Intense focus and unbounded energy. Hyper aggressive. Defecated like a grizzly. It was amazing. But too close to the edge to try again.

Folks who know said my reaction is what being on high grade cocaine is like.

 

[Ricky10]

Wow, mind if I ask what brand?

 

[Ricky10]

I have not had an energy drink for years...I used to have a monster every now and then. Now I just take quality stimulants/fat burners that are usually low in caffeine and filled with high quality ingredients.

 

[UCSMiami]

Hard Rhino. They have updated their packaging to include much more information on usage compared to when I tried it a few years ago. The effect that day is one reason I never use pre-workouts other than home brewed coffee. Effects minimal for some may be adverse to me.

 

[Ricky10]

Well you are better off not using anything except for coffee in the long run anyway..as I am sure you know. Good for you! On the other hand, you have people's like myself..haha!

 

[ChocolateClen]

He won't win. Wasted money. There's enough warning labels on the damn cans to write a book with and monster has won the last few lawsuits. This is what stupidity looks like. Its on the same level as suing an aspirin maker because it didn't prevent your heart attack.

Remember people, correlation IS NOT causation

 

[Woody]

He won't win. Wasted money. There's enough warning labels on the damn cans to write a book with and monster has won the last few lawsuits. This is what stupidity looks like. Its on the same level as suing an aspirin maker because it didn't prevent your heart attack.

Remember people, correlation IS NOT causation

Well in this case causation should be pretty easy to establish. Liability will be the big dispute.

 

[justhere4comm]

Well in this case causation should be pretty easy to establish. Liability will be the big dispute.

Not to pick on you Woody, but it's easier to argue against the point.

So, how does the father know exactly what else his son may have been taking in conjunction with said product? How would he know? Maybe he was taking ephedrine as well. The half life of ephedrine is 4 hours. That could easily have factored in, among a variety of other things, if it were the case.

Causation is not easily established, and may not even be related to the energy drink alone. What about pre-existing conditions congenital or created from conditions arising from the abuse of other elements previously?

Hell, I drank far too much water at a wedding years ago, to the point where I was diluting my blood. I had to go to the ER. I guess, I should have sued the water company. Too much of anything is bad.

 

[ChocolateClen]

Well in this case causation should be pretty easy to establish. Liability will be the big dispute.

His son is liable. Why? Because there's plenty of warning labels, there's plenty of caffeine content labels. It's not their fault of someone stupidly consumes 4 of those.

 

[Woody]

It's not quite as easy as it appears on law and order and a lot more goes into it than a warning label but I digress.

 

[justhere4comm]

A few hypotheticals.

Bleach has a warning label on it. If I drank it. Can my wife sue Clorox?

I take more than recommended dose of 1/4 Andro but do no pct at all. Don't recover. Sue?

 

[Woody]

I don't mean any offense, but have you ever even... stepped inside a court room? Have you ever had to prove causation? Please. Stop being Internet lawyers.

And FWIW, neither of you would make good jurors on this case and would be struck. You literally have zero evidence and you've conclusively established that there is no causation, no liability, and the kid is an idiot.

 

[S.Dedication]

I know Woody won't like this, but I'm on everyone else's side. Unless they can prove the contents in that can, was miss labeled, it just a bunch of bull****. Now if the can actually contained 3x + of the amount of ingredients, I would agree: sue them

But we are in a time and age, everyone likes to blame someone else and wants $$$. Not being internet lawyers, just saying it's ridicules. We all typically abuse **** on a regular basis, does not mean we should be able to sue the companies. Justthere4comm, yeah I would definitely sue the water company, at least to cover your medical bills

Not trying to be a dick, this is very unfortunate. I think we all forget how precious life is and the chances we take using some of the supplements (chemicals) we do.

 

[Woody]

You are arguing over liability though - whether or not they should be sued.

Not whether or not monster caused the kid to die. I never said they should be liable. I did say causation is going to fairly easy to establish but the battle will be over liability.

 

[Woody]

I bought a monster specifically to see the label. Doesn't say do not consume more than X cans in X hours. Doesn't say seek medical attention if you experience X symptoms. Doesn't say do not exercise heavily after consumption. It's a pretty cookie cutter warning.

 

[ChocolateClen]

End of the day they have their asses covered and enough money to back it up. They will easily say that it's an energy drink and therefor should be assumed to contain caffeine etc. I guess they removed (maybe never had it and I'm getting them confused) the do no consume more than X in 24 hours. The kids death is sad yes but because he drank 3 of them that's where the problems lie. Maybe it aggravated a preexisting condition or something that we don't know about but to say his death was directly caused by the energy drink isn't factual untill we have an autopsy report.

The kid is obviously an idiot, if it's an energy drink you should understand that it's going to have caffeine etc. if not then it's on the label. It's not like he was 6 years old and couldn't read etc. he was old enough to understand what caffeine does to the body and for whatever reason he decided to drink 3 of them. He's a grown adult and should be treated as one.

And yes I would make a ****ty lawyer/juror. That's why I'm perusing exercise science and not law

 

[Woody]

The kids death is sad yes but because he drank 3 of them that's where the problems lie. Maybe it aggravated a preexisting condition or something that we don't know about but to say his death was directly caused by the energy drink isn't factual untill we have an autopsy report.

The kid is obviously an idiot, if it's an energy drink you should understand that it's going to have caffeine etc. if not then it's on the label. It's not like he was 6 years old and couldn't read etc. he was old enough to understand what caffeine does to the body and for whatever reason he decided to drink 3 of them. He's a grown adult and should be treated as one.

And yes I would make a ****ty lawyer/juror. That's why I'm perusing exercise science and not law

With regards to your first paragraph - if he had a preexisting condition - a heart defect which made him excessively sensitive to caffeine - the excess of caffeine would have killed him, true? That's causation. It's easily ascertainable in autopsy report is my point lol. Causation will not be in dispute. Either he died from monster or didn't.

With regard to the second paragraph, I disagree to an extent but agree to an extent. Regardless, everyone was so gunho to say there's a warning label, but it turns out the warning label is pretty weak. Now, you're just saying he's an idiot and should have known better.

 

[justhere4comm]

Comrade woodskibro He had 3 cans. 140 mg of caffeine each. That's 420 mg. That shouldn't have killed him. Hence potentially pre existing. But wait.

They said in the article he had consumed 700 mg. Where did that number come from?

Asking as a potential juror.
...
Tisk tisk.

 

[cubsfan815]

Monster will settle out of court. Case closed.

 

[Aleksandar37]

They'll more than likely settle for an undisclosed amount and may or may not add on some extra warning language to packaging.

 

[Aleksandar37]

Monster will settle out of court. Case closed.

Ha! Beat me to it lol

 

[MidwestBeast]

*finishes black cherry vanilla Bang*

Hmm...

 

[rascal14]

Why am I having such a hard time understanding the meanings of liability and causation right now lol

And to think at one point I thought I'd make a good lawyer.

 

[BennyMagoo79]

Never had an energy drink.

Went "Viking beserker" for 8 hours on Tongkat Ali. Intense focus and unbounded energy. Hyper aggressive. Defecated like a grizzly. It was amazing. But too close to the edge to try again.

Folks who know said my reaction is what being on high grade cocaine is like.

Lol my first mental image was of you running off to the woods to poo.

 

[BennyMagoo79]

Also, 700mg of caffeine over 24hrs is not considered a lethal dose.

 

[UCSMiami]

Lol my first mental image was of you running off to the woods to poo.

I realize why some folks under narcotic influence end up suicide by cop. Like that fellow in OK a few months ago with PCP in his system.

 

[youngandfree]

Comrade woodskibro He had 3 cans. 140 mg of caffeine each. That's 420 mg. That shouldn't have killed him. Hence potentially pre existing. But wait.

They said in the article he had consumed 700 mg. Where did that number come from?

Asking as a potential juror.
...
Tisk tisk.

The article says he had 3 24oz cans, not 16oz cans, that totaled 700mg of caffeine.

 

[youngandfree]

Also, 700mg of caffeine over 24hrs is not considered a lethal dose.

Hardly, I take 3 doses of ECA with a 200mg caffeine pill 3x/day. Plus usually drink a soda or 2 during the same day.

 

[justhere4comm]

The article says he had 3 24oz cans, not 16oz cans, that totaled 700mg of caffeine.

Nope. At 8.75 milligrams per ounce that would be 630mg, and still, not impressed with the amount. He had other issues, or complications.

Thanks for the check though. It made me break out the abacus.

 

[muscleupcrohn]

I'm curious as to over what period of time he consumed all three cans. 700mg caffeine over 24 hours is very different than 700mg over 24 minutes.

 

[ChocolateClen]

I'm curious as to over what period of time he consumed all three cans. 700mg caffeine over 24 hours is very different than 700mg over 24 minutes.

This is very true too. As I said we lack a lot of valuable information here

 

[rtmilburn]

With regards to your first paragraph - if he had a preexisting condition - a heart defect which made him excessively sensitive to caffeine - the excess of caffeine would have killed him, true? That's causation. It's easily ascertainable in autopsy report is my point lol. Causation will not be in dispute. Either he died from monster or didn't.

With regard to the second paragraph, I disagree to an extent but agree to an extent. Regardless, everyone was so gunho to say there's a warning label, but it turns out the warning label is pretty weak. Now, you're just saying he's an idiot and should have known better.

Guys Woody is a smart man especially in this aspect. He either went to law school or is still going to law school(I dont remember which). I would definitely trust him on this.

Hell McDonald's has been sued numerous of time for making people fat and had to fork out millions due to this.

Fuk their was a case were a robber was braking into a house; fell through the roof onto a knife. Well he sued the family and won due to "negligence" for not properly storing the knife. No joke google that sh!t, that actually happened!!!!

People win the dumbest lawsuits all the time for good money for no damn reason.

I was sued for 30grand once when some dumb ass was speeding(30over) and couldnt brake in time to not hit me, when I was PARKED in place while waiting for a train. I lost because I didn't have my brake lights, as I was FUKING PARKED, even though the cops gave HIM the ticket.

Now I don't think this dad should win it's a dumb lawsuit. However, he probably will win

 

[rtmilburn]

Comrade woodskibro He had 3 cans. 140 mg of caffeine each. That's 420 mg. That shouldn't have killed him. Hence potentially pre existing. But wait.

They said in the article he had consumed 700 mg. Where did that number come from?

Asking as a potential juror.
...
Tisk tisk.

Monster has 170ish a can and if he had 3 screw on cap monster he easily could have got 700mg

 

[rtmilburn]

Nope. At 8.75 milligrams per ounce that would be 630mg, and still, not impressed with the amount. He had other issues, or complications.

Thanks for the check though. It made me break out the abacus.

It's 94 mg per 8oz if it was 3 screw on cap that is over 800mgs

 

[justhere4comm]

Monster has 170ish a can and if he had 3 screw on cap monster he easily could have got 700mg

It's impossible to tell after searching for what amounts there are as they vary per can of Monster.

Resource
http://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-content/monster

The fact we are arguing over numbers, to whit my point is, even at 700mg, he would not have died. That's ludicrous; fallacious; stupendous; incredulous, and fumigacious. I think he probably popped something for more energy thinking he would be ok because he didn't 'feel' anything right away. Further, I would suggest someone knows because they told him, and he listened to them.

How much did the kid weigh? That could have been a factor as well in all this... I can't remember if it was stated.

 

[1Fast400]

The problem are the large sizes, not the regular cans. FDA gets reallllllll interested when you're over 400mg of caffeine. I'm shocked companies are dumb enough to offer pre's with over that amount at this point. Then again, this industry has rarely been about health. I'm sure monster goes through a LOT of these cases per year.

 

[rtmilburn]

It's impossible to tell after searching for what amounts there are as they vary per can of Monster.

Resource
http://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-content/monster

The fact we are arguing over numbers, to whit my point is, even at 700mg, he would not have died. That's ludicrous; fallacious; stupendous; incredulous, and fumigacious. I think he probably popped something for more energy thinking he would be ok because he didn't 'feel' anything right away. Further, I would suggest someone knows because they told him, and he listened to them.

How much did the kid weigh? That could have been a factor as well in all this... I can't remember if it was stated.

True at those doses it should have only mad him sick nothing else but I still think this dad will win unless there is evidence that there something else in his system

 

[justhere4comm]

True at those doses it should have only mad him sick nothing else but I still think this dad will win unless there is evidence that there something else in his system

The problem with that. Would they detect Ephedrine as it has a half life of 4 hours? (If that was the complementary substance taken)
I agree wit the entire settle out of court, gag clause. --

I'm no fan of the Monster Drinks. Taste like shiit.

 

[rtmilburn]

The problem with that. Would they detect Ephedrine as it has a half life of 4 hours? (If that was the complementary substance taken)
I agree wit the entire settle out of court, gag clause. --

I'm no fan of the Monster Drinks. Taste like shiit.

I have no idea! need to ask someone who does autopsies? Forensic scientist? Idk

 

[BennyMagoo79]

It's impossible to tell after searching for what amounts there are as they vary per can of Monster.

Resource
http://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-content/monster

The fact we are arguing over numbers, to whit my point is, even at 700mg, he would not have died. That's ludicrous; fallacious; stupendous; incredulous, and fumigacious. I think he probably popped something for more energy thinking he would be ok because he didn't 'feel' anything right away. Further, I would suggest someone knows because they told him, and he listened to them.

How much did the kid weigh? That could have been a factor as well in all this... I can't remember if it was stated.

Bodyweight, blood pressure, cardiac morphology...there had to be some pre existing condition for 700mg of caffeine over 24hrs to be provlematic.

 

[muscleupcrohn]

Bodyweight, blood pressure, cardiac morphology...there had to be some pre existing condition for 700mg of caffeine over 24hrs to be provlematic.

Do we know it was over a full 24 hours? 10 minutes is technically within 24 hours, but makes a big difference.

 

[BennyMagoo79]

Do we know it was over a full 24 hours? 10 minutes is technically within 24 hours, but makes a big difference.

Good point. I read the article again and it is unclear (the reference to 24hrs is made in the context of recommended dosage over 24hrs). Perhaps he skulled the three cans immediately prior to playing basketball. If that killed him i really dont think it is the fault of Monster.

 

[youngandfree]

Nope. At 8.75 milligrams per ounce that would be 630mg, and still, not impressed with the amount. He had other issues, or complications.

Thanks for the check though. It made me break out the abacus.

I was just repeating what the article said.