Panera sued in second death linked to caffeinated lemonade beverage
Panera Bread’s Charged Lemonade, a caffeinated drink, is believed to be responsible for a second death.
On October 9, Dennis Brown, 46, from Florida, was on his way home from a Panera Bread after consuming three servings of the caffeinated drink when he suffered a “cardiac event,” reports Time.
On Monday, the Brown family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit, alleging that Panera “knew or should have known” the risks to children, pregnant and breastfeeding people, and those sensitive to caffeine.
The lawsuit states that Brown had “high blood pressure, developmental delay, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and a chromosomal disorder causing a mild intellectual disability and blurry vision.”
It’s believed that Brown thought the beverage was safe since it was not advertised as an energy drink.
Panera
According to Panera’s website, one serving of the Strawberry Lemon Mint Charged Lemonade can contain as much as 237 mg of caffeine.
“For healthy adults, the FDA has cited 400 milligrams a day — that’s about four or five cups of coffee — as an amount not generally associated with dangerous, negative effects,” reads the US Food & Drug Administration website. “However, there is wide variation in both how sensitive people are to the effects of caffeine and how fast they metabolize it (break it down).”
It’s not the first death with an apparent connection to the fruity beverage.
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A lawsuit claims that on September 10, 2022, University of Pennsylvania student Sarah Katz consumed a 30-ounce Charged Lemonade from a Panera, and, according to The Daily Pennsylvanian, she died of cardiac arrest hours later.
A sign displayed on a counter at Panera Bread warning of caffeine in some drinks in October 2023 (Amy Lutz/Shutterstock)
Court documents state that Katz had been diagnosed with Long QT Type 1 Syndrome (LQT1) at age five. The condition causes “potentially life-threatening abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias).” As a result, Katz was on medication and managed her condition “by abstaining from energy drinks and highly caffeinated beverages,” since it can adversely affect the heart’s rhythm for patients with LQT1.
The document states that Panera’s Charged drinks were not advertised as energy drinks.
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