Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Families Say Panera Bread Lemonade Can Cause Death After Daughter's Heart Injury

Episode Date: February 19, 2024

Lauren Skerritt, 28, is a fantastic physical shape due to being an athlete and obstacle course racer. The Rhode Islander stops by a Greenville Panera Bread and drinks two and a half servings of Panera Bread's "Charged Lemonade". The next day, Skerritt is rushed to the Emergency room suffering from an irregular heartbeat.  Skerritt is shocked when doctors diagnose her with a heart condition that can lead to stroke and other complications known as atrial fibrillation. Skerrit says her heart problem was caused by the popular beverage from Panera Bread that contains as much caffeine as three cans of Red Bull, according to a lawsuit. Skerrit's lawsuit is not the first, two other suits have already been filed against the restaurant chain over its "charged lemonade." Panera has said the previous two lawsuits were “equally without merit.”  This lawsuit claims Skerritt continues to experience supraventricular tachycardia with associated shortness of breath, palpitations, brain fog, difficulty thinking and concentrating, body shakes, and weakness. Joining Nancy Grace Today: Dale Carson – Criminal Defense Attorney (Jacksonville), Former FBI Agent, Former Police Officer, Author: “Arrest-Proof Yourself;” X: @DaleCarsonLaw Caryn L. Stark – Psychologist, Renowned TV and Radio Trauma Expert and Consultant; Instagram: carynpsych/FB: Caryn Stark Private Practice Dorian Bond – Private Detective and Owner of Bond Investigations Inc. in Dallas, TX.(largest African American-owned private investigative firm in the United States); Twitter: @bondinvestigate Dr. Harvey Castro– Board-certified Emergency Care Physician & Healthcare Consultant, CEO of ChatGPT and Healthcare; Author: “Revolutionize your health & fitness with ChatGPT’s modern weight loss hacks;” X: @HarveycastroMD Ben Kesslen - Reporter at The Messenger; X: @benkesslen   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Everybody loves Panera Bread, right? I mean, my mother lives off some of their soup. She loves it. I have to buy it in big containers to get for her. Panera Bread, right? Well, apparently not everybody loves Panera Bread, including a young athlete that claims

their lemonade sent her to the ER and that she'll never be the same. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Crime Stories and on Sirius XM 111. First of all, take a listen to this. Lauren Skerritt is 28 years old and in top shape. As an athlete and obstacle course racer, being in fantastic physical shape is a necessity. The Rhode Islander stops by Panera Bread in Greenville and drinks two and a half servings of Panera Bread's charged lemonade. The next day, Skerritt is rushed to the emergency room suffering from an irregular heartbeat. Skerritt is shocked when doctors diagnose her with a heart condition that can lead to stroke and other complications known as atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation. Hold on. Joining me, Dr. Harvey Castro, board certified emergency care

physician and consultant. You can find him at harveycastromd.info. Dr. Castro, what is that? So atrial fibrillation, just think of it this way. There's a top part of the heart and the bottom part of the heart. The top part of the heart starts pumping and it's not in sync with the bottom part of the heart. Okay. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Doctor, as you doctors love to point out, you're a medical doctor. I'm just a JD. Slow it down. Okay. What? Atrial fibrillation. Go ahead. So basically, think of it this way. The heart is not pumping the way it should. And because the heart is not pumping the way it should, it can start creating clots and can cause strokes later on in our life. Okay, wait a minute.

Because the blood begins to pool. Yes, ma'am. Instead of rushing out as it should. Correct. And when it sits there even a little bit, it can begin to coagulate to a tiny degree and make a minuscule clot, probably invisible to the naked eye. But you, of course, will be able to see it. And that tiny, tiny little coagulation can cause a stroke. Correct.

What is a stroke? So unfortunately, these, like you mentioned, little quaggable clot, imagine it flowing all the way up to your brain and then cutting off a certain part of the circulation to that portion of the brain. And that, in essence, depending on where that clot happens, can be a stroke of maybe you're not able to move your hand, maybe you cannot speak. So it can manifest in different ways depending where that clot lands in your brain. Now, let me understand something. In addition to Dr. Harvey Castro, a renowned physician and, by the way, creator of text, Sherlock Holmes crime AI, which is amazing. I don't know how you had time to do that, but you know I'm into sherlock combs correct my son and i watch all sherlock combs and we quite often go to our mind palaces ben keslin with us uh reporter at the messenger

ben uh you don't typically think of someone like lauren skirrett just 28 years old who is an incredible athlete as having a stroke. Definitely not. And, you know, in her lawsuit, she talks about how this could change her life forever, would make her have to be a high risk pregnancy. So her husband is also suing Panera along with her and, you know, just has kind of radically changed the course of her life at 28, perfectly healthy, no previous heart conditions or anything like that. Wait, she's pregnant? No, she's not pregnant. But this condition will make her when she she wants to have children

and now she'll have a high risk pregnancy is one of the things she says in the lawsuit because of this condition. Dr. Harvey Castro, okay, I believe everything that Ben Kessler just told us. Ben's joining us from the messenger. Dr. Castro, could you interpret what Ben just said? Yeah. So unfortunately, when we have a condition like atrial fibrillation and we're also pregnant, we actually, our body starts changing.

One of the simple ones is our blood, let's say, gets thicker, meaning we have actually more blood and we're actually more likely to get a stroke just being pregnant. And so now you add the atrial fibrillation plus pregnancy and obviously this caffeine. Now you're at a huge risk for having these kinds of conditions. Okay. Thank you, Dr. Castro. And thank you, Ben Castle. I'm trying to put all of this in.

Let me just tell you to both of you. I've told this story before and it's still true. When the medical examiners would see me coming up in my horrible little old Honda, it was a great car, but it was smoking from under the hood for like the last seven years of its life. To the medical examiners, they would actually hide because they knew we would have to go through the autopsy report line by line and explain to me, it was a Shakespearean literature major, exactly what the hay they're talking about. And that's happening right now. You drink a Panera lemonade and suddenly you're worried about your future pregnancy and your life has changed forever. I'm trying to figure out,

and I'm saying it's not true. I'm trying to figure out how the hay it happened. So listen. Prior to drinking the charged lemonades at a Greenville, Rhode Island Panera Bread location, Lauren Skerritt worked out regularly going to the gym multiple times a week and doing obstacle courses. With no known underlying health issues before drinking the charged lemonade, she now suffers long-term and permanent cardiac issues. Is that real? Can that happen, Dr. Castro? And again, I'm not saying it's not true. I have no reason to think she's fabricating this. But how could that happen?

Yeah, unfortunately, we see this. I know you've heard of athletes just passing out or dying on the court field. And you're like, wow, these are top athletes. How did this happen? And unfortunately, there's a lot of syndromes that we can have. But think of it as different medical conditions that we're predisposed to dying, but we may not know it. And so often we're finding young individuals coming in with atrial fibrillation, like we just mentioned, or really weird rhythms in their heart. And it's because we didn't realize they had these underlying medical conditions.

And this is unfortunately the first time they're presenting. And because they took this caffeine, it's really pushing their body to now present these symptoms. Guys, take a listen to Dave Mack from Crime Online. The heart problems that Lauren Skerritt says was brought on by Panera Bread's charged lemonade drink wasn't a one-time problem. Since the first incident, the 28-year-old athlete has experienced recurrent episodes of rapid heartbeat that occur suddenly and without warning or pattern. She continues to experience supraventricular tachycardia with associated shortness of breath, palpitations, brain fog, difficult thinking and concentrating, body shakes, and weakness.

You know, Dr. Harvey Castro, before I would take a case to a jury, I would have to practice the names over and over and over. So they would just, you know, roll off my tongue like I've been saying them forever. Supraventricular tachycardia. What is that? Yeah. So now we mentioned the top part of the heart. Now let's talk about the bottom part of the heart. And those are your ventricles. And so unfortunately, I've seen this a lot with young individuals showing up with SVTs.

And basically think of it this way. Your heart rate, you know how when we all go running, it can go into the hundreds or really high. Well, imagine it going up to the 200s or even 300s. That's not life sustainable. And literally, that's what happens to the heart. The bottom of the heart starts being so fast that it goes into some crazy rhythm that we literally have to take care of them in an emergency right away or else they can die. Dr. Castro, again, I'm just a JD, Juris Doctorate.

Can a one-time episode, like say you have some sort of a heart condition that you don't know about, and then you drink this supercharged, which means supercharged, that's a nice way of saying out the yin-yang with caffeine, and you drink that not knowing what you're drinking can that drink throw you into some sort of arrhythmia all that caffeine that kills you yes ma'am and the sad and crazy part about this is we get caffeine say multiple doses throughout the day say we took some chocolate say some of our medicine has caffeine then we go into this sports drink that we don't realize it has that much caffeine. And now we're actually taking more doses than we actually thought we were originally. Okay. Can you slow down and say that again? So I want people to be aware that there's caffeine in many places. We see it in chocolate.

Oh Lord. Is it chocolate? Okay, go ahead. And chocolate, some of our teas, some of our caffeinated drinks, some of our so-called sports drinks that we think are just maybe natural, but we don't think they have caffeine in them. And so all of a sudden, we may be taking multiple doses of different types of caffeine and all that accumulates throughout the day. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. So guys, what exactly was Lauren Skirrett drinking? And I don't want to be a spoiler, but she ain't the first one. Take a listen to Nicole Parton from Crime Online. Lauren Skirrett claims to have been unaware of the contents of the charged lemonade, as the drinks are advertised as, quote, clean, plant-based, and naturally flavored. As an occupational therapist and vegan, Scarrett chooses healthy options for eating and drinking.

Now, along with all of the other symptoms brought on by atrial fibrillation, she and her husband have had to put off plans to start a family, as having a child now would mean dealing with the fact that she will have a high-risk pregnancy and may have complications during her pregnancy. Joining me, an all-star panel, in addition to Ben Kesslin from The Messenger, Dr. Harvey Castro, renowned physician. Also with me, Dorian Bond, high-profile PI, private detective. Karen Stark, renowned psychologist. And criminal defense attorney Dale Carson, former FBI, former beat cop Miami Dade, author of Arrest Proof Yourself at DaleCarsonLaw.com. Dale Carson, hey, listen. Yes, ma'am.

At first I was thinking this one drink did this to her. But can I tell you what happened to me? I'm projecting. So, um, when I was very little, you know, I have bad lungs when I was very little, I had horrible asthma, but I have not had any asthma problems in 20 years until I had a red bull. And guess when that was? It was about 15 minutes before I did my first dance on Dancing with the Stars. Yes, I was in that costume and I was so tired from having practiced and practiced eight hours a day and working. And it was the big night I said I'm so tired so I said drink this I

drank it I had an asthma attack I thought that I was hyperventilating or something because I was stressed out about going on Dancing with the Stars even though I tried serial killers serial rapists child molesters you name it and I never had a problem now maybe it was the energy drink I don't know but you know I went ahead and performed I was awful by the way I did improve a little bit but that it said I didn't think you were awful Nancy you were not awful you are not speaking in your professional every time I have to add that. Thank you. Dale Carson, at first I'm thinking, how can a lemonade throw somebody into a life-changing health,

into a life-changing health, having a life-changing health problem? But after that night, I didn't know what was happening to me. I have not had an energy drink since, I might point out, before or since. But, Dale Carson, I understand what Dr. Castro is saying. And I also know what we're about to talk about. There are other cases similar to this case. It's not just her. That's right.

That's right. And we know this in the criminal defense world as the eggshell platter theory, right? Eggshell skull, you mean? Yes. And if you fight with somebody or injure somebody and they are predisposed to a certain you're, you

own it. So if you hit somebody and you don't think you hit them that hard and they already have a problem and you tell them you're going to be charged. And so when the crossover happens with personal injury, I mean, it's the same thing, essentially. And it's frightening to know that just with a modicum of caffeine, you could be thrown into this abyss. Okay, wait a minute. Emoticum, that suggests that it's a small amount of caffeine. Ben Kesslin joining us from The Messenger.

Ben, exactly how much caffeine is in this drink? Yeah, so it is no small amount of caffeine, Nancy. And let me throw a Latin phrase at you, Ben. It's a crap ton that's how much caffeine yeah so they're um efficient like exactly is 390 um 390 milligrams in one large charged lemonade but for a good comparison that is more caffeine than if you took a can of red bull and a can of Monster Energy Drink, combine them and drink it all.

So in the case of Lauren Skerritt, she drank 2.5 of these lemonades, right? So that's two Red Bulls, two Monsters, and then half of each. So let me understand something, and anybody jump in. What is this, what's it called, charged lemonade? Emphasis on charged. It's advertised as, quote, clean. What does that this, what's it called? Charged lemonade. Emphasis on charged. Is advertised as quote clean. What does that mean? Clean. Plant-based. What does that mean? Naturally flavored. If I saw that, I would just assume that it was really good for you. Now, having worked at the FTC and Consumer Protection, I know that everything you read is not necessarily true when it comes

to claims on products. But if I saw clean, plant-based, and naturally flavored, I mean, Karen Starr, you're the shrink. What are you supposed to think when that is what the ad says? Well, it doesn't just say that, Nancy. It says that it's comparable to their dark roast coffee. And there's no way that this is comparable to any kind of coffee. And people really do believe what they read because everyone these days or most people are looking for something that is healthy, natural, clean. That's a really big word, clean. And so they're going to believe that this is something that is good for them. Hold on. Cindy's waving something at me.

Coffee, 180 milligrams caffeine per eight ounces. Tea is lower. So this has 390 milligrams. Okay. Got, oh, wow. Right. That's a lot of caffeine. Dorian Bond is joining me, guys. Now, Dorian,

didn't we meet when we were investigating the JFK assassination? Yes, we did. Several other times, too. Yes, we have. Dorian, everybody, Dorian is a very well-known and respected private detective, owner of Bond Investigations,

licensed in over 42 states and Canada. I'm curious as to why not 50 states, but that's another discussion. You can find Dorian at bondinvestigations.com. Dorian. Now, you know that they're trying to connect the dots because isn't it true, Ben Kessler, joining us from the messenger, she has her charged lemonade and she goes into, I believe Dr. Castro said arrhythmia. But, Ben, she's not the first person to make this claim, right?

No. So she's the other two people who, well, the other two lawsuits against Panera are from the family of people who died. And they're claiming that, you know, these two people died after drinking this Panera lemonade. One of them, a 21 year old Ivy League student. She went to University of Pennsylvania. She had a heart condition, avoided energy drinks, didn't her family says she had no idea that she was drinking all this caffeine. She wouldn't have drank it otherwise. She went into cardiac arrest and died in 2022. And the other person, Dennis Brown, was a 46-year-old man with disabilities. He had high blood pressure, didn't consume energy drinks. And his family

said that in October when he drank, I believe, three of the lemonades, he suffered a heart attack on his way home from Panera and died. Man, you think they take it off the menu, right? Or at least change their wording from clean, natural. So being counseling, you said that he had a disability and one of those problems was high blood pressure. I mean, Dorian Bond, half of America is like throwing back Losartan and everything else. Everybody's got high blood pressure, right? Because so many Americans are overweight and they think that just eating the Losartan pills or the whatever they are pills is going to fix everything. But Dorian Bond, how do you find the other victims out there? I mean, just off the top of Ben's head, we hear about two more victims that are dead.

D.E.A.D. After scarfing down some Panera Bread charged lemonade. Oh, you're going to see some commercials. You're going to see email blasts of, have you been affected by Panera Bread? You know, exactly what your previous contributor said, that people will believe anything. When they see plant-based, organic, let me go ahead and drink two or three of these, because I'm going to lose weight or it's going to help me because it's plant based. It's just, it's all marketing. I tell my wife all the time when she goes to the store, it's marketing. We can get the cheaper

avocados that don't say organic. But most people, when they think I'm going to go to Panera Bread for a quick drink, oh, it's plant based. Let me see if I can get two of these. And then they're having problems. You're going to see lawyers out there. I mean, I'm surprised that Panera Bread didn't pull this off the shelf after the first one. And another thing, Dorian Brand, have you ever been to the QT or something like a QT, you know, quick trip? Awesome. And seen, I've seen people coming out of there with drinks that are like, I'm like, my stars, man, when you cross the Sahara, it's like they've got a five gallon, like it's a cup with a super big straw coming out of it. I mean, I don't even know how big the drinks are at Panera.

I mean, oh, okay. Sydney's holding something up. 30 ounces. A lot of lemonade. So, oh, okay. So that's okay something up. 30 ounces. 30 ounces. A lot of lemonade. So, oh, okay. So that's, okay, big. So I'm trying to figure out 390 milligrams of caffeine in a regular. What if she got a Goofy Gulp or a big one?

I mean, think about it. Dorian, have you seen people coming out with, like, this giant drink? Yeah, I mean, I get them all the time out of the QT. It's just, it's a matter of, you know, how much soda do you need? I mean, do you need a huge camel as you walk out with a huge soda? Just bring out your camel loaded down with beverages. Dale Carson, is that you jumping in? You know, I was interested in the question of toxicity with caffeine.

I mean, there's a huge difference between what we're talking about and the actual toxicity, because I understand that it's 10 grams of caffeine that brings our bodies up to a toxic level. And that's like 100 cups of coffee at one sitting. And your question is? There's a difference, obviously, between toxicity and what we're talking about. You better have a point, Delacarce, and don't just be thinking out loud. This is minor that the addition of even 300 milligrams of caffeine is not all that significant when it comes to the level of toxicity. Well, you know what? Why don't you tell that to Sarah Katz's family? Take a listen.

Lawrence Garrett's lawsuit against Panera Bread over their charged lemonade is not the first. Sarah Katz, a 21-year-old University of Pennsylvania student, consumed the Panera charged lemonade and, as the lawsuit claims, was reasonably confident it was a traditional lemonade or a type of electrolyte sports drink that would be safe for her to drink. Later that same day, while dining with friends at a restaurant in her apartment building, Sarah Katz suffered a fatal heart attack. Yeah, she died 21 years old in one of the most prestigious universities in the country and more. As Sarah Katz had a heart condition called Long QT Syndrome Type 1, she avoided energy drinks and highly caffeinated drinks due to her condition.

Sarah Katz's family alleges in the complaint that Panera Bread includes the charged lemonade as part of its sip club in which customers are urged to drink unlimited Panera Charged Lemonade every day. Whoa, the Sip Club. Customers urged to drink unlimited Panera Charged Lemonade every day. Now, Sydney is waving a banner at me, and before she raised it, I think it said 1,200 milligrams you have if you consume it quickly causes the toxicity that Dale Carson even though I harangued him accurately pointed out so if you drink it rapidly then it can cause the toxicity he was discussing so you've heard about Lauren Scarrett, who is now afraid to become pregnant.

You have now heard about Sarah Katz, who went out and died after the Panera charged lemonade. But there's more. Take a listen to Crime Online's Rachel Bonilla. As a rule, 46-year-old Dennis Brown doesn't drink energy drinks. Actually, Dennis Brown avoids drinking significant amounts of caffeine in general. He does this to better control his high blood pressure. Dennis Brown likes to stop by Panera Bread after his shifts at a supermarket. Brown is also part of Panera's Unlimited Sip Cup, a membership that allows patrons who pay a subscription fee to refill drinks at no cost, where he can get his favorite Panera charged lemonade.

And exactly what happened with Dennis Brown. Listen. Dennis Brown goes to his local Panera Bread just about every day and enjoys his membership in Panera's Unlimited Sip Club. According to Dennis Brown's family, Dennis Brown did not know how much caffeine was in the drink he enjoyed as part of his Unlimited Sip Club membership. His family says Dennis Brown didn't know Panera's Charged Lemonade has more caffeine than an energy drink. And his family says he suffered a cardiac arrest and died hours after consuming three of the drinks.

Okay, you know, back to Ben Kesslin joining us from the messenger. They can't all be lying. They can't. Well, yeah. I mean, three is quite the amount in just a few months. And, you know, there could be more coming down the line. And for the first two, you have two examples of people who, you know, their families say they would never have drank this lemonade had they known what was in it,

right? I remember Sarah Cass's lawyer did an interview and she said something like, everybody thinks lemonade is safe. And I think that's true, right? Nobody really thinks that, maybe they know there's some sugar in it, but no one really thinks they're, you know, getting in over their head with a lemonade. Yeah, I would think, Ben, that it's water, lemon juice and sugar or artificial sweetener. One of the two. Exactly. And, you know, Panera has now put a warning on it that tells people, you know, how much caffeine is in the drink. But you have to think about the fact, too, that I don't think your average person knows, you know, what that means.

When you hear 390 milligrams of caffeine, it could seem like a lot to you. It could also not seem like a lot to you, you know, because you don't necessarily know how much caffeine is in a cup of coffee. So just even hearing the amount might not do it for a lot of people for them to know, you know, hey, this stuff is serious. Don't drink three. When did they put that warning, Ben? After the lawsuit. Hmm.

So. Nancy. Yeah, jump in, please. I'm thinking they put that warning. Isn't that an acknowledgment that something was wrong? So they had to go back and put that warning in there? Yeah. Under civil law, you're allowed to do that.

You're allowed to do what? To warn people after an event and not have it penalized you later. I know, but that's in court. We're not in court. Look around. Are you in a courtroom? No, you're not. She said, after all this, they put a warning.

And that does say something to me. Of course, he's right. Dale Carson is right. That can't be used against them at trial, if there ever is a trial, because they put a warning. But it does suggest they realized something was very, very wrong. Guys, I want you to take a listen to the Panera response in our Cut 14 about what they had to say after Mr. Brown died. Panera bread in a statement to USA Today denied any wrongdoing. Panera expresses our deep sympathy for Mr. Brown's family,

but that based on its investigation, the company believes his unfortunate passing was not caused by one of the company's products. Guys, this is not the first time that people have literally died after an energy drink. Anybody ever heard of Four Loco? Take a listen to our cut 26. An apartment manager in Huntington Beach, California, calls police after seeing two teens in a vacant apartment. Looking through the window, the manager couldn't tell if they were asleep or dead. Police arrive and discover 15-year-old Aaron Sainz and 16-year-old Chelsea Taylor are dead, and right next to their bodies, an empty can of Four Loko. Four Loko, which has been dubbed blackout in a can by some drinkers, sells for under $3 and contains as much alcohol

as nearly five beers and as much caffeine as several cups of coffee. Four Loko has been banned in several states. Four Loko contains as much caffeine as several cups of coffee. And a 15-year-old Aaron Sands and 16-year-old Chelsea Taylor are dead after drinking Four Loko Blackout in a can? You know, what's really interesting to Dorian Bond joining us, veteran private investigator, Dorian, until I started investigating this charged lemonade case by Panera, I didn't realize all the deaths that had occurred

following consumption of energy drinks. I didn't even know the deaths that had occurred following consumption of energy drinks. I didn't even know what Four Loko is. Yeah, I've heard of that several years ago. And there's a big craze because a lot of teenage kids, they think they need to stay up to three o'clock in the morning and then get up at seven and they need an energy drink. And so they slam these Four Lokos or, you know, whatever monster energy drinks and think they're going to last the entire day. And then it gets the kids hooked on it, just like coffee. When you start drinking coffee, you get hooked on it. And it's affecting a lot of the, you know, teenage kids and, you know, people that are going to school that have got to stay up for long periods of time.

They go after that four loco. I mean, I was on Tyler's campus the other day and they're selling and they're selling energy drinks in the vending machines for the kids. I didn't realize the connection, Dorian. I did not know. And it's not just traditional energy drinks. Take a listen to more from Dave Mack. In South Carolina, David Cripe is a drum-loving, amazing 16-year-old that has devoted time to helping teens stay away from drugs and alcohol. As Davis Kripe is heading into a class at school, he chugs an energy drink. On this particular day, he had already had a large diet Mountain Dew, a cafe latte from McDonald's, then the energy drink. It turns out it was so much caffeine, it caused arrhythmia, and the 16-year- old Davis Cripe died from the caffeine.

OK, I'm reeling because that's my go to coffee, a large McDonald's coffee with two creams in it. This kid, just 16, topped it off with an energy drink and it caused arrhythmia. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Dr. Harvey Castro with us, board-certified physician. Arrhythmia, that's different from what our earlier victims suffered, correct? Yes, there's different types of rhythms. And we, as a general classification of all of them, we just call them arrhythmias, anything that's not normal, rhythm. How can an abnormal arrhythmia or rhythm, heartbeat rhythm, kill you? Unfortunately, caffeine can change the chemical structure, the way it works,

the way the heart works. And because of that, it can start doing abnormal rhythms. And those abnormal rhythms can literally kill you depending on which abnormal rhythm you obtain. So we're talking about young people in their 20s now, as young as 15, 16. Now take a listen to a case regarding 19-year-old Alex Morris. At 19 years old, Alex Morris has been drinking energy drinks and sodas with caffeine since he was 16. But on this day, Alex Morris had two 16-ounce cans of an energy drink in the preceding 24 hours, just as he had been doing for the last three years. Only this time, the caffeine in the energy drinks caused arrhythmia,

and Alex Morris died. The family lawyer says Alex Morris died from drinking an energy drink. And more. Take a listen. Travis Humphrey is the picture of health. At 21 years old, Humphrey has no health conditions. He's never sick with more than the common cold. But two weeks before his 22nd birthday, Travis Humphrey dies. His official cause of death?

Cardiac arrhythmia due to monster energy drinks, a drink that can be purchased next to sodas and Gatorade at most convenience stores. It all seems so innocuous, so innocent, right? They're dead, and I'm not stopping now. Listen. Anise Fournier spends the afternoon with a friend at the mall, and the two return to her house for a sleepover. Anise suddenly loses consciousness, and her friend gets her mother for help. The 14-year-old's eyes roll back, and she stops breathing. Her mother performs CPR while on the phone with 911.

She questions Anise's friend about their activities that day, and they admit that they each had an energy drink at the mall. It takes first responders four rounds of defibrillation to stabilize a niece before she's airlifted to Johns Hopkins Hospital. After 48 hours of intensive treatment, doctors attempt to bring a niece out of sedation, but she seizes multiple times, her heart rate becomes more erratic, and one of her lungs collapses. Five days after she's admitted for treatment, a niece is declared brain dead. Her official cause of death is listed as cardiac arrhythmia due to caffeine toxicity. Karen Stark, some people would refer to a protective mother as a helicopter mom. I refer to myself as a straitjacket mom because I try to do everything

and anything I can to protect John David and Lucy. I had no idea about all these deaths following energy drinks. These two little girls at the mall, 14, they had an energy drink, and the girl is dead. Cardiac arrhythmia due to caffeine toxicity. And I feel like as a mother, it makes sense that you would want to be really careful, Nancy, because you never really know if there's some kind of a heart problem. At least that's what until you become an adult, maybe and you get your heart tested. I think that you have to be careful. I'm not saying that you can't allow them to have anything that you think is okay or

things that seem innocent, but something like this where there's potential to cause medical harm, I think any mother should be really careful. A lot of these drinks, they're bright colored, they're pink, some of them, they look fun. If you're a 14 year old and you see them in the store, in some ways it's being marketed towards someone like you, you know. And that's a lot of caffeine for a really young kid. You know what? Ben, that's a really good point. The colors, like candy, is marketed toward children.

It can have all types of neon colors to it. And the positioning beside other drinks that teens and children would like to get their mitts on. Did I hear Dale Carson jumping in? Yes, ma'am. When I was cross-training with the DEA in Glencoe, it was discussed that caffeine today would be a scheduled narcotic. Yeah, there are people. I and I have read about it, and I think Dale Carson is absolutely right, that they are saying that most of us are addicted to caffeine. Caffeine is addictive. Caffeine can be dangerous.

It's just we don't think about it because everybody wants to start the day with their cup of coffee. Well, Karen Stark, you lived through this with me. Remember, I wanted to have children so badly, and the doctor said, get off the coffee. I was a coffee freak that people would actually give me exotic coffees for Christmas because I didn't want anything else. Then I got off, and I managed to get pregnant with the twins. And I got to thinking, Karen, if that was required for me to get pregnant, it can't be good for your body. So I switched to tea. At that time, you're absolutely right. Guys, does the name Andrew James ring a bell? It didn't before. It does now. Listen. Andrew James spends the afternoon with his cousin.

The two watch a movie, grab a meal, visit James' brother, and plan to finish their day spending time with a friend. On the drive between the two homes, James and his cousin stop at a convenience store for drinks. The two joke back and forth about trying Monster Nitrous energy drinks and each get one. When they arrive at the friend's home just eight minutes later, James says he doesn't feel well, vomits, then collapses and convulses. The cousin calls 911 and tries to perform CPR, but by the time EMTs arrive, Andrew James, just 19, is dead.

Two days after James' death, his mother pleads with James' brother and cousin to tell her if they were doing drugs or drinking. They pull a can of Monster Nitrous out of the fridge and tell her this is what killed Andrew. Andrew James and Brian Shepard, listen. Brian Shepard, 15, relishes victory with his teammates after a second-place win in a competitive paintball tournament. The team eats dinner together and is waiting for the evening's awards ceremony, enjoying several vendor booths, peddling gear and other performance equipment. Red Bull is giving out free samples, and of course the 15-year-old partakes.

Fifteen minutes later, Shepard collapses and convulses. First responders work tirelessly to correct an arrhythmia, but Shepard dies in the hospital hours later. The cause of Shepard's arrhythmia was never determined, but his family believes the energy drink, the only one Shepard ever had is to blame. Guys, I've been giving you cases, true life cases of teens and people in their 20s literally keeling over after energy drink or heavy caffeine consumption in seemingly all natural drinks, but adults as well. What about this super fit father, Thomas Mansfield? Thomas Mansfield is a personal trainer and security guard.

The super fit father of two orders packets of a caffeine powder mixture so he can make his energy drinks at home. Mansfield makes a mixture of his drink, takes a sip, then chugs the rest. Minutes later, his wife Susanna sees Mansfield frothing at the mouth. She runs outside to get help from neighbors and family as she calls for an ambulance. Paramedics arrive quickly and note Mansfield's grossly abnormal heart rhythm. 29-year-old Thomas Mansfield dies later at the hospital, cause of death due to caffeine toxicity. Mansfield made a mistake mixing his drink at home and ended up ingesting a drink with the caffeine equivalent to 200 cups of coffee. Ben Kesslin joining us from The Messenger.

Ben, I predict that the lawyers for Lauren Skirrett are going to do, as Dorian Brown suggested, send out commercials, notices online regarding the Panera Bread, quote, charged lemonade, quote, drink, and any health problems following it. I predict that there will be more alleged victims to join this case. Ben Kesslin, where does the case stand right now? Yeah. So right now there's three cases. I think you're right, Nancy, that we could definitely see more down the line. You know, all of these victims are suing victims or their families on behalf of the victims are suing for damages. But the cases are still in progress. It's not great time for Panera either, because there's lots of reports that they're trying to

go public and, you know, have filed for an IPO. So you have a company that right now, whenever you hear the word Panera, this is what people are talking about. But yeah, we'll see what happens with these three cases. There's no word on whether they'll settle or they'll go to court. It's still pretty far off from that. We reached out to Panera Bread for their response and as of right now have heard nothing. Lauren Skirrett, Dennis Brown, Sarah Katz. We wait as justice unfolds. Goodbye friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.