POCOMOKE CITY, Md. - Monster is being sued by the family of a 14-year-old Maryland girl with a heart condition who died after drinking two cans in a 24-hour period.
16 ounces of fluid or more, doesn't seem scary. Monster drinks look like any other canned beverage. But the FDA reports five people have died in the last three years after drinking them, and it's now making caffeine lovers think twice.
"No one can say for sure that the caffeine is what did it, but to the wrong person, just a little bit can be bad. But for most people they're fine with it." an emergency physician in Pocomoke City Dr. Gerri Goertzen said.
Photographer Dan Sperling and reporter Jemie Lee don't have any health issues and decided to test it out. "It's been about an hour since I drank an entire can of this Monster Energy drink. My starting heart rate was 75, and it is definitely going up and is now at 90," Lee said. Dan's starting heart rate was 70, and went up to 95.
"It's a stimulant - like speed or cocaine, that just speeds up everything in the body. It speeds up your heart rate, and if you have a heart that is irritable and the electricity can be set off in lethal ways by it. That's the biggest danger," Dr. Goertzen said.
Dr. Goertzen warns even nutrient enhanced beverages such as vitamin water could pose a risk to the wrong person. For instance, potassium, found in bananas and some vitamin drinks is dangerous if you have too much. A healthy body will normally clean it out. But for someone with kidney problems, it can pose a serious health risk.
Overall, Dr. Goertzen recommends it's best to stay away from these drinks period. "To the wrong person, energy drinks are dangerous. Unfortunately, nobody knows if they're the wrong person, and so for the little bit of change they make in your life, it's not worth it," she said.
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