An Ivy League student with a heart condition died after drinking Panera Bread’s “charged lemonade,” a large cup of which contains more caffeine than cans of Red Bull and Monster energy drinks combined, according to a lawsuit. The legal complaint, which was filed Monday morning in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and was first obtained by NBC News, calls the beverage a “dangerous energy drink” and argues that Panera failed to appropriately warn consumers about its ingredients.
About 1 in 2,000 people have congenital long QT syndrome, with some showing no symptoms and others fainting or experiencing heart palpitations in response to triggers such as exercise or being startled, said Dr. Charles Berul, an electrophysiologist at Children’s National Hospital in Washington. Berul, who did not treat Katz and is not involved in the lawsuit, said that caffeine is allowable in moderation for long QT patients.