Monster Beverage Lawsuit: Parents Blame Energy Drink For Daughter's Death

Monster Beverage Lawsuit: Parents Blame Energy Drink For Daughter's Death Read more at www.inquisitr.com...

www.inquisitr.com

The parents of a 14-year-old girl who passed away in December have filed a lawsuit against Monster Beverage Corp. claiming that its drink, Monster Energy, contributed to their daughter’s death.

The lawsuit claims that 14-year-old Anais Fournier went into cardiac arrest after drinking Monster Energy drinks on two consecutive days.

(visit the link for the full news article)

I'm sick and tired of American people's obsession with suing everything and everyone. When I spent time in the US, I had to sign a damn waiver promising not to sue if I got wounded, when I practiced Krav Maga and parkour at two different gyms. Where I come from, that would never have been necessary.

And now this. What this is, ladies and gentlemen, is an unwillingness to take responsibility for your own mistakes. Where I'm from it is common sense not to let underage children drink energy drinks. So why on Earth would you let a fourteen year old girl drink them two days in a row?

The failure is on the parents' hands, not the company's, but they can't take responsibility for their own mistakes, so they decide to sue Monster instead.

It's childish, it's retarded, and it is ignorant, as is the case with many American lawsuits, like the infamous one where McDonalds gets sued because somebody burnt their lip on too hot coffee. What the hell.

Some people need to stop looking for every excuse they can to be victims. Grow the hell up.

If I am to be blunt and cold-hearted, I would say this; The death of this daughter is on her parents' hands, NOT the company's.

www.inquisitr.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

The concept of self responsibility is long since dead and buried. Everything is always someone else’s fault.

Ill mirror my thoughts from a thread on the same subject: Health & Wellness thread.

*Note, t&c allows both a BAN thread and another, I'm not pointing this out as a duplicate, just presenting the other as well.

You can blame the girls parents in this case, or blame the genetics they passed onto the kid.

The report also showed that the teenager had Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which can affect the body’s connective tissue, including blood vessels. A lawyer for her family, Kevin Goldberg, said that the 14-year-old had been aware she had an underlying heart condition but added that her doctors had not told her to restrict her physical activities or her caffeine use.

In this case, maybe you can put more blame on the doctor's that treated the girl as the family claims they weren't warned about caffeine. I wouldn't go so far as to sue the doctor's but in the future maybe make it so they inform patients of complications from food intake, if it's not being done already. Regardless, the parents are responsible for instilling positive eating habits and self control, and judging by the mom's picture, she doesn't seem to be the epitome of said qualities.

The mother is pictured below.



www.nytimes.com...

The simple fact that the same amount of caffeine could have been consumed from a few ice cappuchinos makes this an entirely fruitless argument for legal action. If they do so, they may as well do the same for coffee.

reply to post by boncho


Aah, I forgot to do the search thing. My bad. Thanks for the link though.

I also agree with both of the above posters. Le sigh.

She should have known she had sea food alergies. Sea-Monster used to make Monster Drink. So she drinks it and get sea sick. Makes sense right?

Originally posted by Gauss
reply to post by boncho

 

Aah, I forgot to do the search thing. My bad. Thanks for the link though.

I also agree with both of the above posters. Le sigh.

T&C allows two threads to be active on a single subject when one is in the BAN forum, so I suggest continuing on with this one. The other one doesn't really discuss the case as much either, it is more focused on the OP's opinion that caffeine should be age restricted.

In any case, a law suit is stupid. There are warning labels on the Monster Energy drinks, the child had an underlying medical condition, the fatal reaction she had could have happened from any stimulant (not just caffeine, and not just from Monster Energy drinks) and to top it all off, it's the responsibility of the individual and in this case, the mom, to manage a diet so the person is in good health. (Especially with a medical condition present.)

Even if the doctor didn't outright warn the mother to keep the kid away from stimulants, knowing her child had more than one health condition, she ought to have taken the time to research and implement certain diet restrictions or recommendations for her daughter.

Heck, my mom did it, and I was in perfect health.

How often did I get McDonalds when I was a kid? Once a month. No more.

reply to post by boncho


I hear ya, bro. In my opinion, that woman has failed on so many levels to protect and take care of her daughter, it makes your head spin. Keeping her away from energy drinks that should never be given to children, researching her condition properly and managing her diet...actually taking responsibility for her own failures.

It makes me remember my childhood, when I was given a single candy bar each friday evening, and that was my allowed candy intake for the entire week. Where the hell did those days go?

reply to post by Gauss


Mom of the year: 2012

I don't have kids, but I think if I did, and I knew the kid had some kind of medical condition. I would make Damn sure I knew everything there was to know about it. And make sure the kid knew too.

If anything, the parents should face charges of negligence. Or at least a good kick in the face.

As an owner of an internet cafe I have many teenagers as clients.
We sell three brands of energy drinks. Red Bull, Monster Energy and No-fear.
All these products have a "Consume Responsibly" label on the back, and suggest a healthy diet and lifestyle to accompany it. So the companies are legally covered.
The average teen in my store, drinks 1-2 of these daily. (at a 8-10 hour time range), though on rare occasions I've seen kids drink 2 or more in a couple of hours.
I must admit i was very worried, and I Did warn them that it's not good for them.
But what can you do? There is no law that puts a limit, forbids or even regulates all these products that empowers any store owner to control this. (like alcohol) and I wish there was.
A kid can get anything it wants (cigarettes,alcohol,drugs) from a number of sources. And the only barrier that stands between them is a decent education and upbringing from school/family to teach them self-preservation.
"A healthy mind from a healthy body" The ancient Greeks used to say.
I wonder how many cases of serious harm from over-consuming fizzy drinks like Coca cola / Pepsi or even junk food have been buried or simply ignored in the last 20 years?

What is it with Americans and suing everyone in sight....

It's a tragedy that a 14yr old girl died but let's be honest if you are aware your daughter has a heart condition you make damn sure she doesn't drink the kind of crap that can affect her heart rate or at the very least don't let her consume enough of it to cause caffeine toxicity....

i think the word negligent would not be an overstatement



peace

reply to post by Gauss


I agree.


Welcome to Amerika, where you are no longer responsible for your own failures.


As a parent, I condemn the actions of these parents. I don't let my kids drink that garbage.

Originally posted by spiralarchitect
As an owner of an internet cafe I have many teenagers as clients.
We sell three brands of energy drinks. Red Bull, Monster Energy and No-fear.
All these products have a "Consume Responsibly" label on the back, and suggest a healthy diet and lifestyle to accompany it. So the companies are legally covered.
The average teen in my store, drinks 1-2 of these daily. (at a 8-10 hour time range), though on rare occasions I've seen kids drink 2 or more in a couple of hours.
I must admit i was very worried, and I Did warn them that it's not good for them.
But what can you do? There is no law that puts a limit, forbids or even regulates all these products that empowers any store owner to control this. (like alcohol) and I wish there was.
A kid can get anything it wants (cigarettes,alcohol,drugs) from a number of sources. And the only barrier that stands between them is a decent education and upbringing from school/family to teach them self-preservation.
"A healthy mind from a healthy body" The ancient Greeks used to say.
I wonder how many cases of serious harm from over-consuming fizzy drinks like Coca cola / Pepsi or even junk food have been buried or simply ignored in the last 20 years?

You don't have to have a law to tell you not to do something. That is what is wrong with the world: we think we need laws to tell us how to act. Which smacks right back to what Pythagoras said: "when free men need laws, they are no longer fit for freedom".

Just tell them no. Empower yourself. Quit empowering government by waiting for them to make laws to give you permission to use common sense.

What motivates these people?

Revenge? Some off kilter hope that somehow their child will come back? A misplaced notion of altruism hoping to prevent this from happening to anyone else?

Mayo says there is more caffeine in a coffee than a Monster: www.mayoclinic.com...

Would they be suing Folgers in kind or is Monster presented as a better target because stupidity rules the day and energy drinks are high on the scapegoat list for stupid people?

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


I want to say "greed for easy money" - but no matter how much I despise this mother, I can't honestly believe someone who've just lost their daughter can be so soulless that they'd sue for the sake of money only. I think it's a combination of refusing to accept fault, and, probably, grief.

That is no excuse, though.

Originally posted by Ph03n1x
What is it with Americans and suing everyone in sight....

It's a tragedy that a 14yr old girl died but let's be honest if you are aware your daughter has a heart condition you make damn sure she doesn't drink the kind of crap that can affect her heart rate or at the very least don't let her consume enough of it to cause caffeine toxicity....

i think the word negligent would not be an overstatement

peace

My girlfriend got angry at me for saying this woman should be charged with manslaughter. But, seriously, this is some serious negligence on her part, and honestly I think there should be legal repercussions, not just for her daughter's death, but also for wasting the time of the courts.

Originally posted by spiralarchitect
As an owner of an internet cafe I have many teenagers as clients.
We sell three brands of energy drinks. Red Bull, Monster Energy and No-fear.
All these products have a "Consume Responsibly" label on the back, and suggest a healthy diet and lifestyle to accompany it. So the companies are legally covered.
The average teen in my store, drinks 1-2 of these daily. (at a 8-10 hour time range), though on rare occasions I've seen kids drink 2 or more in a couple of hours.
I must admit i was very worried, and I Did warn them that it's not good for them.
But what can you do? There is no law that puts a limit, forbids or even regulates all these products that empowers any store owner to control this. (like alcohol) and I wish there was.
A kid can get anything it wants (cigarettes,alcohol,drugs) from a number of sources. And the only barrier that stands between them is a decent education and upbringing from school/family to teach them self-preservation.
"A healthy mind from a healthy body" The ancient Greeks used to say.
I wonder how many cases of serious harm from over-consuming fizzy drinks like Coca cola / Pepsi or even junk food have been buried or simply ignored in the last 20 years?

I know what you mean, man. It makes me wonder how hackers and gamers like those who go to LAN's and play for an entire weekend without sleep, all junkied up on energy drinks, caffeine pills and Jolt Cola, survive the events. It also makes it more obvious why they are so twitchy as people the other 363 days of the year.

Just tell them no. Empower yourself. Quit empowering government by waiting for them to make laws to give you permission to use common sense.

True.. you can say No.. we can even not sell Energy drinks or anything else you find harmful to minors.. what do you think will happen next?

The kid goes to the store next to you and buys whatever it wants..
So what you're doing there is just moving the responsibility down the road.

Or you could go to the other store/s and tell them not to sell the product themselves.
If they listen, Same scenario as above happens.
If they don't, there's nothing you can do.

If on the other hand. Society(me, you, all of us) took a stand against garbage feeding our kids, and forced them to make junk food/drinks illegal, then the whole thing changes.
Jaimie Oliver did this with macdonalds and forced them to make their junk healthier, and to include salads etc to their menus.
The empowerment comes with knowledge.
It's education to the parents and as an effect to the kids that we need. And laws that protect the consumer (even against multinational corporations that bring out this junk food/drinks).

Originally posted by Gauss

Originally posted by Ph03n1x
What is it with Americans and suing everyone in sight....

It's a tragedy that a 14yr old girl died but let's be honest if you are aware your daughter has a heart condition you make damn sure she doesn't drink the kind of crap that can affect her heart rate or at the very least don't let her consume enough of it to cause caffeine toxicity....

i think the word negligent would not be an overstatement

peace

My girlfriend got angry at me for saying this woman should be charged with manslaughter. But, seriously, this is some serious negligence on her part, and honestly I think there should be legal repercussions, not just for her daughter's death, but also for wasting the time of the courts.

charging her may be a tad harsh, she is probably acting out of grief and looking for someone to blame in order to make some sense of this tragedy, i can't blame her for that. grief can drive people to extremes

also there would be no legal basis to charge her with manslaughter unless she can be proven to be negligent which is not easy in a courtroom when the jury would be affected by this senseless death.