Buzz
If you're a fan of caffeinated drinks, you've likely felt your heart racing after consuming too much. This is an early warning sign of a caffeine overdose. You may also have experienced a severe headache or irritability when skipping your morning coffee. This is known as caffeine withdrawal.
Not many people stop to acknowledge that caffeine is a highly addictive and potentially dangerous substance that we willingly consume every time we need a pick-me-up to tackle our daily tasks. It has become so ingrained in our daily habits that society hardly notices it anymore.
By downplaying caffeine's potency, people fail to realize that it can be lethal when consumed in excess. Below are 10 real-life stories of individuals who have tragically died from caffeine overdoses.
10. Latte, Mountain Dew, Energy Drink
A 16-year-old named Davis Cripe was much like many teenagers in South Carolina. He was a healthy and cheerful young man who enjoyed playing the drums and staying out of trouble.
His school allowed students to leave during lunch breaks, and he had his own car. On this occasion, he drove to McDonald's, where he bought a cafe latte. While eating, he drank a Mountain Dew and downed an energy drink in a few gulps before heading into his art class.
The high caffeine levels caused his heart rate to spike so severely that Cripe suffered a heart attack and collapsed in the classroom. The teacher immediately called 911, but by then, it was too late. An FDA representative later explained that the issue was the excessive caffeine intake in such a short time frame, which could happen to anyone, even those without a prior heart condition.
9. 5-Hour Energy
Those who wish to avoid the extra calories in sugary energy drinks or coffee might consider turning to energy shots that contain vitamins and caffeine as a quick fix to stay alert at work or school. Yet, the small size of these shots can lead people to underestimate their strength and effects.
Between 2009 and 2012, 5-hour Energy drinks were linked to 13 deaths and 33 hospitalizations. Dr. Sean Patrick Nord, director of the USC Section of Toxicology, equated the effect of consuming multiple energy shots daily to drinking 30–40 cups of coffee. It’s not surprising that such overdoses can be fatal when multiple shots are consumed in a short time.
The makers of 5-hour Energy shots dismiss these reports as mere 'claims' that their products caused caffeine overdoses and have refused to alter the formula. Manoj Bhargava, the founder and CEO, suggested that people should follow the usage instructions. Comparing energy shots to water, Bhargava stated, 'If you have too much [water], you drown.'
8. FCKD UP And Four Loko
In the United States, combining caffeine and alcohol in the drink Four Loko led to erratic behavior among some young drinkers, with tragic outcomes, including deaths. These drinks have a high alcohol concentration but are available in fruity flavors that make them easy to consume quickly. The added caffeine causes intoxication to hit faster and can induce significant personality shifts.
Even individuals with a high tolerance for alcohol can become extremely drunk after consuming just one Four Loko. For young people unfamiliar with the risks, it’s easy to overdo it.
In 2010, Four Loko came under scrutiny by the US Food and Drug Administration. In response, Phusion Projects, the company behind Four Loko, removed the caffeine from their alcoholic beverages.
This action followed the death of 20-year-old Jason Keiran, who consumed three Four Lokos at a college party. This amount is roughly equivalent to drinking 18 light beers and several cups of coffee. The combination of alcohol and caffeine drove him into a manic state, leading to a tragic incident where he shot himself. Keiran’s family later sued the company.
It seems that the Canadian beverage company, Geloso Group, the makers of FCKED UP, missed the lesson learned from the controversy surrounding Four Loko. Tragically, in 2018, a young girl from Quebec named Athena Gervais died due to the dangerous mix of caffeine and alcohol in the drink. Athena was only 14 years old at the time.
She had attended an outdoor party in the woods behind her school, where she consumed some of the FCKED UP drink. Afterward, she exhibited odd behavior and soon went missing. A few days later, her body was discovered in a nearby stream.
In the aftermath of Gervais’s death, Geloso Group ceased the production of FCKED UP.
7. No Doze
In 2007, 19-year-old James Stone was desperate to land a job. In his quest to stay alert and power through his numerous online job applications, he began using No-Doz caffeine tablets at his parents' house. The product lacked a warning about the risks of overconsumption and simply suggested it was similar to drinking a cup of coffee.
Unsatisfied with the effects of just one No-Doz pill, James Stone decided to take a dangerous leap and consumed 25–30 tablets within a short span. Soon after, he began to feel unwell. When he attempted to get up and head to the bathroom, he collapsed on the floor from a heart attack.
A representative from Novartis, the manufacturer of No-Doz, stated that James Stone's death was the first reported fatality linked to their product, emphasizing that No-Doz is FDA approved and safe. However, further investigation revealed that a similar incident occurred in 1998, where another young adult had died after taking an entire bottle of No-Doz on a dare.
6. Monster Energy
Caffeine raises your heart rate, which makes it inadvisable to engage in physical exercise immediately after consumption. Nevertheless, Monster Energy often features professional skaters and athletes in their advertisements, showing them drinking the product and then quickly participating in intense physical activities. This sends the wrong message to teenagers, suggesting that it is acceptable and even encouraging the idea that the drinks could boost athletic performance.
In 2015, 19-year-old Dustin Hood consumed three-and-a-half cans of Monster Energy in a 24-hour period and then proceeded to play a basketball game. The combination of caffeine and exercise led to cardiac arrhythmia, as stated in a lawsuit filed by his father. Dustin collapsed during the game and later passed away in the hospital.
Monster Energy has faced criticism on multiple occasions for targeting teenage consumers. In 2012, the company was sued following the death of a 14-year-old girl who had consumed just two cans of their product.
The company has also been hit with a class action lawsuit for marketing their drinks as regular soft drinks or beverages, despite the fact that they are classified as dietary supplements by the FDA. This classification allows Monster to avoid disclosing ingredients on their products and bypass other consumer safety regulations that are required for standard beverages.
5. Coffee Cancer Risk
Many caffeine advocates argue that the drug only becomes dangerous when consumed through energy drinks, claiming that coffee is a much safer option. But is that really the case?
In reality, a single 12-ounce cup of Starbucks coffee packs the same punch as drinking three cans of Red Bull. What's even more alarming is that 12 ounces is considered the 'tall' size at Starbucks, which is actually their smallest option. The sizes go up to a massive 31-ounce 'trenta.' And it doesn’t stop there—it only gets worse.
In March 2018, a California court ruled that a chemical called acrylamide is produced when coffee beans are roasted, and that acrylamide has been linked to an increased risk of cancer. This decision followed a lawsuit filed by the nonprofit Council for Education and Research on Toxics, which sought to have coffee cups in California—such as those sold by Starbucks—labeled with a cancer warning.
Naturally, the companies are fighting this decision in court, as they fear it could damage their profits. However, not all experts are in agreement with the judge's ruling.
4. An Experiment Gone Awry
As previously mentioned, mixing caffeine and exercise is dangerous. In 2015, researchers at Northumbria University wanted to conduct an experiment to see just how much caffeine a human body can take while working out.
Sports science majors Luke Parkin and Alex Rossetta were administered caffeine powder that was the equivalent of 300 cups of coffee. Then they worked out while hooked up to a heart monitor. Considering how many people have died after consuming much smaller amounts, it’s not surprising that the students began to show signs of a serious overdose.
They were rushed to the hospital. Thankfully, Parkin made a full recovery. But Rossetta’s brain was damaged after the experiment, and he now suffers from short-term memory loss.
The school made a formal apology in the media, and they were fined £400,000 for their mistake. It was concluded that the researchers who conducted the experiment had absolutely no idea what they were doing and should have never been running that test in the first place.
3. Unnamed Man In Japan
In 2015, a man in his twenties was working at a 24-hour gas station in Japan. His shift was from midnight until 6:00 AM. He needed to stay awake during the day and go back into work that night. He figured that he could pull this off if he drank enough caffeine. Unfortunately, he died of an overdose.
Researchers at Fukuoka University performed an autopsy. This was the first case of a caffeine overdose death in Japan, so it came as a shock to many Japanese medical researchers. Many were not aware that it was possible to die of a caffeine overdose. They have no idea just how many drinks the victim consumed.
After this news came out, one Japanese energy drink company voluntarily warned people not to consume too many in a short time and not to mix energy drinks with alcohol.
2. Bullet Energy Drink
You may not have heard of the energy drink called “Bullet,” but it is a cheap and popular caffeinated beverage in several countries, including Nigeria. In 2014, a man named Elijah Nwankwo, who was living in the state of Ebonyi, accepted a $100 bet from one of his friends that Elijah could not consume eight Bullet energy drinks by himself.
Nwankwo accepted the challenge and began rapidly drinking the energy drinks one after another. He suddenly collapsed and fell into a coma. His friends rushed him to the hospital, but it was too late. He lost the bet—and his life.
There is very little information available about Bullet online, and it seems that there are no regulations requiring the company to disclose the exact amount of caffeine in their drinks. Like many other companies, Bullet has paid athletes to pose with cans of their product and encourages consumers to purchase multipacks.
1. Mystery Energy Drink
Even when sitting still, riding a motorcycle can accelerate your heart rate. In 2007, a 28-year-old amateur motocross racer consumed 7–8 cans of an unnamed energy drink just before hopping on his bike.
He won some of the races, but after his second race, he began feeling a dull pain in his chest. Being so young, he didn’t realize he was experiencing a heart attack. He kept racing until he finally collapsed.
At the hospital, doctors found no clear cause for his heart attack other than the energy drinks. They performed a cardiac catheterization and discharged him six days later. The medical report did not pinpoint which specific energy drink caused the attack, but he narrowly escaped death due to the excessive caffeine intake.
While it's true that this individual didn’t die, we felt it was essential to highlight how easily heart attack symptoms from excessive caffeine can be overlooked, especially when you’re young or in good health and believe death is far from your reality.
