A Brooklyn family filed an $85 million wrongful death lawsuit against Red Bull on Monday, after a man suffered a fatal heart attack as a result of drinking the energy beverage.
According to the Huffington Post, Cory Terry was known as a regular drinker of Red Bull, a highly caffeinated energy drink that has sold 35 billion cans worldwide in the past 25 years.
"He drank that stuff all the time," Patricia Terry, his grandmother, told the New York Daily News. "He said it perked him up."
The lawsuit claims the "extra perk" in the reason behind Terry's death. Lawyer, Ilya Novofastovsky, said Red Bull contains "extra stimulants that make it different than a cup of coffee," and those additives are more dangerous than what Red Bull lets on.
In 2011, Terry drank Red Bull for about 45 minutes before he collapsed and died while playing a basketball. Terry's family told the Daily News the father of one has an active lifestyle and was a non-smoker. Genetics or health factors such as undiagnosed illness could have caused Terry's premature death, according to some reports
In January, a suit filed against Red Bull claimed it charged a premium for a product that "provides no more energy than a cup of coffee or a caffeine pill."
Other energy drinks companies have also come under fire following reports of deaths linked to consumption of their products.
A lawsuit filed in 2012 claimed a 14-year old girl died from cardiac arrest after drinking two, 24-ounce cans of Monster energy drink in a 24-hour period. A statement from the beverage company stated that there were no blood tests performed to determine if the girl died from "caffeine toxicity."
In November 2012, the New York Times reported that 5-Hour Energy drinks had been cited in reports of at least 13 deaths over a four-year period.
