The death of a 14-year-old girl who has become the poster child for banning caffeine-fueled energy drinks can't be blamed on the beverages, lawyers for the Monster Beverage Corp. said Monday.
Dan Callahan, a lawyer for Monster, said no blood tests were conducted to prove that Anais Fournier actually died of caffeine toxicity after drinking two 24-ounce Monster drinks in two days, and the girl had several preexisting conditions that predisposed her to the sudden cardiac arrhythmia that killed her in December 2011.
The company faces a wrongful death lawsuit filed last fall by the Maryland girl's parents, Wendy Crossland and Richard Fournier.
Doctors, coroners and other experts hired by Monster who analyzed the girl's medical records found "no connection" between Fournier's death and the drinks, Callahan said.
"There was no medical, scientific or factual evidence to support the medical examiner's conclusion of caffeine toxicity," Callahan said in a briefing with reporters Monday.
Bruce Goldfarb, a spokesman for the Maryland office of the chief medical examiner, Dr. David Fowler, said he couldn't comment because of the pending lawsuit. Dr. Ana Rubio conducted the autopsy, Goldfarb said.
Monster lawyers also said the firm's discovery process had found that Fournier drank coffee regularly and frequented Starbucks shops.
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SOURCE: NBC News
JoNel Aleccia
