Dennis Brown was “an independent 46-year-old man living with a chromosomal deficiency disorder, developmental delay, and ADHD,” according to the lawsuit, filed by his next of kin. It said he also suffered from high blood pressure.
On October 9, after his shift at Publix in Fleming Island, Brown walked over to Panera Bread and had a meal that included “Charged Lemonade.” He died of a heart attack while walking home.
This week his family filed the lawsuit in Delaware, where Panera in incorporated, less than two months after Panera was sued by the family of Sarah Katz, a college student with a heart condition who died in September 2022 after she drank a Charged Lemonade.
According to the lawsuit, which can be read in its entirety below:
The Panera Charged Lemonade is an unregulated beverage which includes no advertisement as an “energy” drink and, instead, are represented as “clean” and akin to Panera Dark Roast coffee, when they contain not only caffeine, but also the stimulant guarana and exorbitant amounts of sugar.
Panera Charged Lemonade is advertised as “Plant-based and Clean with as much caffeine as our Dark Roast coffee” in small print and suggests “Sip, ENJOY, Repeat. Unlimited Sip Club.” 33. Accordingly, Dennis consumed the Panera Charged Lemonade, reasonably confident it was a traditional lemonade containing a reasonable amount of caffeine safe for him to drink.
Upon information and belief, during his ninety-minutes at PBC, Dennis refilled his charged lemonade two additional times. Dennis had a known habit of drinking three beverages in a row.
As noted by NBC news,
At 390 milligrams of caffeine, a large, 30-fluid-ounce Charged Lemonade has more caffeine in total than any size of Panera’s dark roast coffee…The large cup contains more than the caffeine content of standard cans of Red Bull and Monster energy drinks combined, plus the equivalent of nearly 30 teaspoons of sugar…
The Food and Drug Administration says healthy adults can safely consume 400 milligrams of caffeine a day.
Panera has not had time to respond to the Brown lawsuit, but it has put up disclaimers about it’s Charged Lemonade.