Can too much caffeine kill you?

Monster Energy is back in the spotlight after the FDA reports that, in the past three years, five people may have died from downing the company's drinks

Consuming high amounts of caffeine can reportedly cause irritability, abnormal heart beat, and, sometimes, cardiac arrest.
(Image credit: CC BY: Mike Deal aka ZoneDancer)

Energy drinks are under scrutiny again. Not only has the Food and Drug Administration released a report stating that five people in the past three years may have died from consuming Monster Energy products, but a Maryland couple is suing the company behind the popular line of energy drinks, for the death of their 14-year-old daughter last December. Anais Fournier died from a heart complication after allegedly drinking two 24-ounce cans of Monster on back-to-back days. An autopsy revealed she died of "cardiac arrhythmia due to caffeine toxicity."

Though the company denies that its products are dangerous, the lawsuit "charges that Monster failed to warn about the risks of its energy drinks," says Barry Meier at The New York Times.

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