Wrongful Death Suit Filed Against Red Bull

The grandmother of a 33-year-old who allegedly died from cardiac arrest after ingesting a Red Bull “energy drink” while playing basketball has filed a survival and wrongful death action against the company. Terry v. Red Bull N. Am., Inc., No. 506504/2013 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., Kings Cty., filed October 24, 2013). The complaint recites a number of adverse incidents around the world since 2000 allegedly linked to consumption of the product and cites studies indicating that its use can produce symptoms associated with cardiovascular disease.

Claiming that the product proximately caused the decedent’s death, the plaintiff alleges strict liability (design defect and failure to warn); negligence (design, manufacture and sale, and failure to warn); fraud; breach of implied warranties; punitive damages for the willful, wanton and malicious production of a beverage with “dangerous levels of caffeine and other stimulants”; and wrongful death. She seeks $5 million for each cause of action and $50 million in punitive damages for a total of $85 million, as well as costs.

According to news sources, the plaintiff claims that her grandson, a construction worker with a 13-year-old son, was healthy and a regular drinker of Red Bull. She has also filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming that the school gymnasium in Brooklyn where her son collapsed was not equipped with a defibrillator or other life-saving gear, and that it took 40 minutes for an ambulance to arrive. The medic’s report apparently referenced the decedent’s consumption of an energy drink before he died. See New York Daily News and The Huffington Post, October 28, 2013.

Issue 502