Panera Bread sued after Pa. student dies from ‘charged lemonade’
Panera Bread has been sued after the death of a University of Pennsylvania student.
The student — who had a heart condition — had reportedly drank one of the chain’s “charged lemonades” prior to passing away.
NBC News reports how the lawsuit was filed Monday in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas on behalf of the parents of 21-year-old Sarah Katz.
A lawsuit alleges a 21-year-old University of Pennsylvania student with a heart condition died after drinking Panera Bread’s “charged lemonade,” which contains more caffeine than a Red Bull and Monster energy drink combined. https://t.co/RyV2RPfBCj
— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 23, 2023
According to the suit, Katz was diagnosed at five with what’s known as long QT syndrome (LQTS) type 1, a medical condition defined by Stanford Medicine as “a rare disorder of the heart’s electrical system that can lead to dangerous heart rhythms, fainting, and sudden cardiac arrest.”
The same NBC News report explains how Katz avoided energy drinks with high concentrations of caffeine on the recommendation of her doctors due to the condition, and was, according to close friend, Victoria Rose Conroy, “very, very vigilant about what she needed to do to keep herself safe.”
However, The Patch states that Panera’s “charged lemonade” is incredibly caffeinated, and even has an amount of the ingredient which exceeds those of popular energy drinks such as Red Bull and Monster combined. This is despite the fact that the lemonade was “offered side-by-side with all of Panera’s non-caffeinated and/or less caffeinated drinks,” reads the suit.
Katz went into cardiac arrest hours after drinking the lemonade, says NBC News, and died of a second heart attack on her way to the hospital. Cause of death was determined to be cardiac arrhythmia due to the LQTS.
The suit accuses Panera as being “engaged in negligent, reckless, intentional fraudulent, reckless, and/or outrageous misconduct.” What the suit is seeking specifically hasn’t been disclosed.
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