A teenage boy in suburban Pittsburgh went into cardiac arrest after drinking Panera Bread Co.’s caffeinated Charge Lemonade, according to a lawsuit. He was the fourth person to suffer fatal or near-fatal heart disease before the company ultimately pulled the drink from shelves. Month.
According to a complaint filed Monday in the Commonwealth of Philadelphia, Luke Adams, 18, of Monroeville, Pennsylvania, ordered a Mango Yuzu Citrus “Charged Lemonade” on March 9. He became “unresponsive” and had to be resuscitated with a defibrillator at a local movie theater. court.
The lawsuit was filed by Philadelphia attorney Elizabeth Crawford, who also represents three other plaintiffs, including family members of the two people who died, in a lawsuit against the fast-food chain over alleged heart scares linked to Charged Lemonade.
Adams’ near-death experience was not made public until May 4th. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported..
A few days later, Panera Bread announced it would no longer sell Charged Lemonade. The larger size of this product contains more caffeine than 12 ounces of Red Bull and 16 ounces of Monster Energy Drink combined.
“Luke Adams’ case is a tragic example of why Panera Charged Lemonade is an inherently dangerous product and should be removed from the market,” Crawford wrote in a statement to the Post on Tuesday. told.
“Luke was a healthy 18-year-old with no underlying health conditions before he drank a large bottle of Panera Charged Lemonade and suffered cardiac arrest. Without the heroic efforts of medical professionals at the cinema and hospital, he would have passed away.”
According to the complaint, Adams ordered a charged lemonade with a chicken sandwich before attending a 7 p.m. screening of “Dune 2” with friends at the Cinemark Monroeville Mall movie theater.
Approximately 2 1/2 hours into the movie, one of Adams’ friends noticed that Adams was “making unusual noises,” according to the complaint.
“It was at this time that it was discovered that Luke had suddenly gone into cardiac arrest,” the lawsuit states.
Adams was “unresponsive,” so a friend and a nearby good Samaritan called 911.
However, according to the lawsuit, two nurses and a cardiologist who happened to be in the theater began administering CPR to Adams within minutes.
Medical professionals then used a defibrillator to give Adams an electric shock to return his heart to a normal rhythm, according to the complaint.
Adams was then rushed to a local hospital, where medical personnel noticed he was experiencing “seizure activity,” according to the complaint.
The man was admitted to the intensive care unit due to acute respiratory failure, where he was intubated and placed on a ventilator, according to the complaint.
Adams suffered a second seizure while in the ICU, according to the complaint. Eventually, he regained consciousness two days later.
The complaint includes a screenshot of a neurological report revealing that Adams’ seizures were “of unknown origin and possibly related to cardiac arrest secondary to caffeine ingestion from Panera Charge Lemonade.” Ta.
A cardiology report attached to the complaint cited “high caffeine ingestion” as the “only potential trigger” for Adams’ cardiac arrest.
Adams had a subcutaneous defibrillator connected to his heart. The pacemaker “is implanted indefinitely for pre-emptive secondary prevention,” according to the lawsuit.
The newspaper has contacted the hospital and Panera Bread for comment.
The chain has approximately 2,200 stores across the United States and is also incorporated in Delaware.
Last October, 46-year-old Dennis Brown suffered a fatal “heart attack” on his way home from eating Panera Bread on Fleming Island, Florida.
Brown, who suffered from high blood pressure and a developmental disability, died after refilling one and two more Charged Lemonade drinks, according to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Crawford in Delaware Superior Court last year.
According to Panera Bread’s website, a regular “Charged Lemonade” contains 260 milligrams of caffeine, while the large drink has 390 milligrams.
In response to Brown’s death, Panera Bread said it “firmly stands behind the safety of our products.”
“Mr. Panera expresses its deepest sympathies to Mr. Brown’s family,” the statement said.
“Based on our investigation, we believe that his unfortunate death was not due to the company’s products. We believe that this lawsuit, filed by the same law firm as the previous claim, is similarly meritless. That’s what I think.
Brown’s lawsuit was filed shortly after the family of 21-year-old University of Pennsylvania student Sarah Katz claimed in a complaint that she suffered a fatal cardiac arrest after ingesting Charged Lemonade in 2022.
Earlier this year, Lauren Skerritt, a 28-year-old Rhode Island woman, filed a lawsuit against Panera Bread.
She said she was taken to the emergency room after drinking more than one “Charged Lemonade” drink and suffered debilitating injuries, including an irregular heartbeat.
“I suffer from recurring episodes of sudden, rapid heartbeats with no pattern,” Skerritt said in court papers filed in Delaware Superior Court.
