FDA probes deaths tied to energy drink

Reports of five deaths and a heart attack linked to Monster Energy drinks should bolster efforts to get the Food & Drug Administration to regulate caffeinated energy drinks, health and safety advocates say. The Food & Drug Administration says it has received five "adverse event" reports of death and one report of a heart attack "associated" with Monster Energy Drinks. FDA spokeswoman Shelly Burgess said Tuesday that the agency takes all incident reports seriously, and "we ... investigate each report diligently." Monster Beverage said in a statement Tuesday that "neither the science nor the facts support the allegations that have been made. Monster reiterates that its products are and have always been safe." The FDA reports were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by Wendy Crossland of Hagerstown, Md. Crossland said in a lawsuit against Monster Beverage that her 14-year-old daughter, Anais Fournier, died in December after drinking Monster Energy for two days in a row. Crossland "wanted to do everything in her power to make sure young people don't drink energy drinks," says her attorney, Kevin Goldberg. Monster said in its statement that it "does not believe that its products are in any way responsible for the death of Fournier." Anais Fournier, who died in 2011, with her twin brother Dorian. Still, some say the deaths could lead to FDA action on energy drinks, something Sens. Richard Durbin, D- Ill., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., have been urging since early this year. "Sometimes, tragedy prompts action even from entrenched bureaucratic skeptics," says Blumenthal. "These tragedies put a face and voice to a very severe danger." Jim Shepherd of Toronto became an outspoken opponent of energy drinks after his 15-year-old son, Brian, died of a heart arrhythmia in 2008 after drinking a Red Bull free sample at a paint ball tournament. Red Bull says it sympathizes with Shepherd but is not responsible for his son's death. (USA Today)