Panera Bread involved in 2nd wrongful death law suit due to Charged Lemonade.

M

MarciKS

SF VIP
Panera Bread is at the center of another wrongful death lawsuit after a Florida family claimed the restaurant's caffeinated lemonade drink caused Dennis Brown to go into cardiac arrest.

The popular fast-casual chain issued warnings in late October and added signage on menus for the highly caffeinated "charged lemonade" beverages after a similar lawsuit alleged a woman died after drinking one.
read the rest of the story here: Panera Bread lawsuits
 

We have a Panera here plus we have some sort of drink place that offers fruity drinks with 600 mg of caffeine in one drink. The nurses at work sip on those throughout their shift. Not a lot but often. I can't drink energy drinks anymore cuz they drive my blood pressure through the roof the next day. I can handle a lot of caffeine spread out through the day but been trying to cut back some.
 
Looks like there's nothing overtly wrong with drinking one of these - although you'll basically hit the daily recommended dose of Caffeine. Drink two or three, and of course you're over. If I read the story correctly, the guy was in a program that allowed him free refills, and so he drank a few of them while eating.

What's the lawsuit for? Serving someone more than one? Not putting up signs warning people?
 
VaughanJB said:
Looks like there's nothing overtly wrong with drinking one of these - although you'll basically hit the daily recommended dose of Caffeine. Drink two or three, and of course you're over. If I read the story correctly, the guy was in a program that allowed him free refills, and so he drank a few of them while eating.

What's the lawsuit for? Serving someone more than one? Not putting up signs warning people?
Click to expand...
I think it was because the public wasn't adequately warned that these are just as dangerous as an energy drink for certain people. I would think common sense would tell a person if it says charged in the name that means it's gonna have a jolt.
 
MarciKS said:
I think it was because the public wasn't adequately warned that these are just as dangerous as an energy drink for certain people. I would think common sense would tell a person if it says charged in the name that means it's gonna have a jolt.
Click to expand...
Yeah, but people assume that it's been approved as safe for consumption by the general public.

I don't trust anything touted as an Energy Drink. We have coffee and tea for that.
 
OldFeller said:
Yeah, but people assume that it's been approved as safe for consumption by the general public.

I don't trust anything touted as an Energy Drink. We have coffee and tea for that.
Click to expand...
it technically isn't an energy drink. it's just got the max dose of caffeine for one whole day in one drink. so when they have 900 mg of caffeine and drop over dead everyone blames the restaurant. people need to ask more questions about items that are not ordinary in order to keep themselves more safe i think.

thanks for the responses everyone.
 
Let's see, a restaurant chain is lacing lemonade with caffeine to improve sales, and advertise it as "charged". Then, they're wondering why they get sued when someone dies drinking their lemonade. In this legal world, you are responsible for what you do. If you want to sell high level caffeine drinks, you are responsible for the consequences. If you endanger your life by knowingly over consume caffeinated drinks, you're responsible for the consequences.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
Let's see, a restaurant chain is lacing lemonade with caffeine to improve sales, and advertise it as "charged". Then, they're wondering why they get sued when someone dies drinking their lemonade. In this legal world, you are responsible for what you do. If you want to sell high level caffeine drinks, you are responsible for the consequences. If you endanger your life by knowingly over consume caffeinated drinks, you're responsible for the consequences.
Click to expand...
that and i find it hard to believe that this guy drank several of these a day and didn't notice the jolt from the caffeine. he had 3 of them in one meal. they each had 350 mg in it. we have an energy drink at work with 300 mg of caffeine. i've had it. there's no way you can not notice the caffeine in it.
 
Mixed emotions reading that article.

It appears they labelled a drink containing 390 mg of caffeine as containing 237. That's over a 100 mg difference so they mislabelled.

On the other hand, dude knew he had health problems. It mentions that he didn't drink energy drinks for this reason. So even at the 237 mg labelling, it rather sounds like he should also have passed on this and it's not the company's fault that he didn't. I don't think his family should win. (Morally speaking. I'm not a lawyer.)

As for the college student, I'll bet either she had a pre-existing heart condition or other health issue and/or she took drugs too. Sorry for stereotyping college students but also not sorry. So many of them do experiment with dangerous things.

Not quite as dumb as the broad who sued McD's for putting a hot coffee between her thighs while driving but close. I still think McD's should have won that one. What an idiot.
 
MarciKS said:
We have a Panera here plus we have some sort of drink place that offers fruity drinks with 600 mg of caffeine in one drink. The nurses at work sip on those throughout their shift. Not a lot but often. I can't drink energy drinks anymore cuz they drive my blood pressure through the roof the next day. I can handle a lot of caffeine spread out through the day but been trying to cut back some.
Click to expand...
Yup I quit energy drinks also for the same reason. But I prefer no caffeine and am OK with that.:(
 
fuzzybuddy said:
Let's see, a restaurant chain is lacing lemonade with caffeine to improve sales, and advertise it as "charged". Then, they're wondering why they get sued when someone dies drinking their lemonade. In this legal world, you are responsible for what you do. If you want to sell high level caffeine drinks, you are responsible for the consequences. If you endanger your life by knowingly over consume caffeinated drinks, you're responsible for the consequences.
Click to expand...

What does "over-caffeinated" mean" The drink is below the daily recommended dose of Caffeine. Coffee shops, and "energy drinks", don't have to worry. At what point does the consumer have responsibility?
 
VaughanJB said:
What does "over-caffeinated" mean" The drink is below the daily recommended dose of Caffeine. Coffee shops, and "energy drinks", don't have to worry. At what point does the consumer have responsibility?
Click to expand...
it wasn't below though. the daily dose for the entire day is 350. he drank over a 1000 mg in one meal. and they claim he had no idea. that's why they're getting sued. i agree...at some point the consumer has to take the responsibility to ask questions. not just assume it's fruitier or something. caffeine in moderation is fine. but in the extreme and with people with all kinds of health conditions the restaurants need to take more safeguards if they're gonna sell that crap. you don't label it as healthy if it has the potential to make someone drop dead.
 
MarciKS said:
it wasn't below though. the daily dose for the entire day is 350. he drank over a 1000 mg in one meal. and they claim he had no idea. that's why they're getting sued. i agree...at some point the consumer has to take the responsibility to ask questions. not just assume it's fruitier or something. caffeine in moderation is fine. but in the extreme and with people with all kinds of health conditions the restaurants need to take more safeguards if they're gonna sell that crap. you don't label it as healthy if it has the potential to make someone drop dead.
Click to expand...

The daily maximum dose is 400mg. The drink was below that.

As for being served more than one glass, how is a restaurant owner going to know an individuals health issues? Where is the line between what an individual knows about themselves, and what a server at a bar knows?

By the way, I don't see this being labelled as "healthy" anywhere. Perhaps I missed it.

The prescribed max amount of sugar per day is 150 calories for me, 100 calories for women. So let me ask you, how do you monitor that each day? Me? I don't.
 
I didn't post this thread for the purpose of causing an argument. I only shared it so people would be aware. Sorry for bothering.
 
MarciKS said:
Panera Bread is at the center of another wrongful death lawsuit after a Florida family claimed the restaurant's caffeinated lemonade drink caused Dennis Brown to go into cardiac arrest.

The popular fast-casual chain issued warnings in late October and added signage on menus for the highly caffeinated "charged lemonade" beverages after a similar lawsuit alleged a woman died after drinking one.
read the rest of the story here: Panera Bread lawsuits
Click to expand...
Great Thread @MarciKS ! Adults should be aware of what they are drinking, when dining out.
 
Blaze Duskdreamer said:
Mixed emotions reading that article.

It appears they labelled a drink containing 390 mg of caffeine as containing 237. That's over a 100 mg difference so they mislabelled.

On the other hand, dude knew he had health problems. It mentions that he didn't drink energy drinks for this reason. So even at the 237 mg labelling, it rather sounds like he should also have passed on this and it's not the company's fault that he didn't. I don't think his family should win. (Morally speaking. I'm not a lawyer.)

As for the college student, I'll bet either she had a pre-existing heart condition or other health issue and/or she took drugs too. Sorry for stereotyping college students but also not sorry. So many of them do experiment with dangerous things.

Not quite as dumb as the broad who sued McD's for putting a hot coffee between her thighs while driving but close. I still think McD's should have won that one. What an idiot.
Click to expand...
I looked up that McDonald's case once and that lady was a grandmother who was there with her grandson. And as they were sitting in the parked car, she tried to get the top off to add cream and sugar. The lid was stuck as they sometimes are and it jerked as she pulled it and the coffee spilled on her thighs and *******s and gave her 3rd degree burns down to the muscle. She was in hospital for 8 days and had to have skin grafts.

The coffee was about 30 to 40 degrees hotter than is permitted.

She had offered to settle for $20,000 to cover her medical costs and the company refused and offered her $800. That in spite of about 700 other people having the same sort of burns from their coffee.

She wasn't an idiot and they weren't doing anything reckless. It could just as easily happen to you. If you're interested in following up, here's a link to the American Museum of Tort Law web page that discusses it. According to the page, the jury awarded her about $2.7 million, and the judge reduced the punitive damages so the guesstimate is that she got a little less than $500,000 (although there is an NDA in effect so the real figure might be different than that). Liebeck v. McDonald’s
 
Last edited:
MarciKS said:
I didn't post this thread for the purpose of causing an argument. I only shared it so people would be aware. Sorry for bothering.
Click to expand...
I think giving people a heads up about things like this, isn't a bad idea. In Canada, a few of these energy drinks have been pulled from the shelves and banned. The one that started it had caffeine that was 6 times as high as a coke of the same size. Apparently they're very bad for children who wouldn't know better and might drink it.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top