Today numerous experts and medical doctors wrote a letter from doctors to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concluding that:

“Based on our own research and our review of the published literature cited herein, we conclude that there is no general consensus among qualified experts that the addition of caffeine in the amounts used in energy drinks is safe under its conditions of intended use as required by GRAS standard, particularly for vulnerable populations such as children and adolescents. On the contrary, there is evidence in the published scientific literature that the caffeine levels in energy drinks pose serious potential health risks, including increased including increased risk for serious injury or even death.”

The signatories to this letter are from prestigious teaching hospitals and schools including John’s Hopkins, University of Maryland, Wake Forest School of Medicine, University of California Berkeley, and UMass Memorial Medical Center.

The doctors urge the FDA to take quick action to protect children and teens from the dangers of highly caffeinated energy drinks and to apply the “Generally Regarded as Safe” standard for soda to energy drinks and other beverages that contain caffeine as an additive.

The doctors also urged the FDA to require energy drink manufacturers to include caffeine content on product labels. The letter first describes what Energy Drinks are and discusses that they are marketed to teenagers and young adults.

The letter does a good job of distinguishing energy drinks from coffee (see page 2). Basically the Letter explains that caffeine in coffee is naturally occurring, many energy drinks contain more caffeine than coffee, and coffee is typically served hot and consumed slowly while energy drinks are served cold and consumed rapidly (some manufacturers advertising and can design encourage teens to ingest large quantities quickly by saying things like “pound down” “Chug it down”.

The article then discusses the health complications of energy drinks. The article discusses the FDA Adverse Event Reports, DAWN Drug Abuse Warning Network reports of increased Emergency Room Visits, Cardiovascular Complications, Seizures, Childhood Obesity, and other health issues related to the consumption of energy drinks. The report also discusses the combination of alcohol consumption and energy drinks. The Article states “consuming energy drinks mixed with alcohol is associated with serious alcohol related consequences such as sexual assault and driving while intoxicated.”

Anyone interested in learning more about the dangers of energy drinks should read this letter. It is very well written and well documented with 66 footnotes citing to a large amount of scientific articles about energy drink dangers. Another great resource for information about the dangers of energy drinks can be found here: https://www.goldbergfinnegan.com/energy-drink-lawsuits.html.

Of course if you or someone you know has suffered a heart attack or death after consuming an “energy drink” please contact a personal injury lawyer from our law firm at (888) 213-8140.