A Pennsylvania teenager had to be resuscitated in March when he went into cardiac arrest after drinking Panera Bread’s high-caffeine Loaded Lemonade, a lawsuit says.
The lawsuit, filed Monday and first obtained by NBC News, comes just under two weeks after Panera announced it was discontinuing the controversial drink. It is at least the fourth lawsuit filed against the bakery and cafe chain over the drink, which previous lawsuits blamed for two deaths and a woman’s ongoing health problems.
Panera has denied wrongdoing in legal documents. He did not immediately respond to questions about Monday’s lawsuit, which was filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
The complaint alleges that Luke Adams, 18, had no known health problems when he purchased a chicken sandwich and a large loaded lemonade on March 9 in his hometown of Monroeville. That night, Adams went to the movies with friends. While watching the film, a friend heard Adams making “unusual sounds,” the lawsuit says. The friend then noticed that Adams had stopped responding.
Two nurses and a cardiologist who were in the operating room performed CPR on Adams, the lawsuit said. They also used an automated external defibrillator, or AED, to shock Adams’ heart — which undoubtedly increased his chances of survival, said Dr. Andrew Pogozelski, the cardiologist who has treated Adams since the incident.
“He was as close to death as possible,” said Pogozelski, chief of cardiology at Allegheny Health Network’s Forbes Hospital in Monroeville. “It was as unlucky as possible for this to happen to an otherwise healthy 18-year-old — but as lucky as possible for the people in the theater to know what they were doing.”
After being rushed to the hospital, Adams had two seizures, according to his lawsuit. Medical notes included in the lawsuit said the seizures were of “obscure etiology, possibly related to cardiac arrest secondary to ingestion of caffeine from Panera Charged Lemonade,” and said “heavy caffeine ingestion” was identified as the only potential trigger for his arrest. cardiac.
Adams, a high school student, said in an interview that he felt “extremely lucky” to have survived the cardiac arrest, which led to him being intubated during part of his hospitalization. His ordeal was first reported by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette several days before Panera announced it was discontinuing its Charged Lemonade.
Charged Lemonade contains caffeine from multiple sources, including the stimulating guarana extract. The lawsuits refer to the drink as a “dangerous energy drink” and blame it for the deaths of Sarah Katz, a University of Pennsylvania student with a heart condition, and Dennis Brown, a Florida man with a chromosomal and a delay in development. Another lawsuit alleges it caused “permanent heart injuries” to Lauren Skerritt, a Rhode Island woman. The cases are all ongoing, with the first being judged in September.
O Food and Drug Administration says healthy adults can safely consume up to 400 milligrams of caffeine per day. After being sued, Panera placed more detailed disclosures in all of its restaurants and on its website warning customers to consume Loaded Lemonade in moderation, stating that it is not recommended for children, people sensitive to caffeine, or pregnant or breastfeeding women.
Panera also moved Charged Lemonade behind the counter so it was no longer self-serve and updated its Nutritional information to reflect the amount of caffeine contained in the iced drink. It previously advertised its Charged Lemonade as “plant-based and clean,” with as much caffeine as its dark roast coffee. But the lawsuits said that at 390 milligrams, a large 30 fluid ounce Loaded Lemonade had more caffeine in total than any size of Panera’s dark roast coffee, referring to the caffeine in the drink without ice.
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Monday’s filing said that when Adams purchased a large Mango Yuzu Citrus Charged Lemonade, which Panera Lists because it contains 237 milligrams of caffeine on ice, “he did not know that Charged Lemonade was a super energy drink” that contained “large amounts” of sugar and guarana.
Pogozelski said Adams’ doctors found no structural abnormalities in his heart and no underlying health conditions that could explain why he went into cardiac arrest. During his hospital stay, they implanted a subcutaneous defibrillator, a device that will shock Adams’ heart if he has a life-threatening heart rhythm in the future.
Adams’ mother said she is traumatized by how close she came to losing her son.
“Every night when I go to bed, everything replays in my mind,” said Lisa Feyes, an emergency room nurse. “It’s really hard for me to see Luke walk out the door.”
A Panera spokesperson declined to answer questions earlier this month about whether previous lawsuits contributed to Panera phasing out Charged Lemonade nationwide, saying the change followed a “recent menu transformation.”
Feyes said she cried when she learned the drink was being discontinued.
“They were tears of joy because no other parent will ever have to go through this again over a Panera lemonade,” she said.
Adams’ lawsuit seeks a jury trial and damages and accuses Panera of “negligence, carelessness and recklessness” in the design, marketing and promotion of Charged Lemonade, among other allegations.
Elizabeth Crawford, a partner at the Philadelphia-based law firm Kline & Specter, PC, who represents Adams and the plaintiffs in Charged Lemonade’s other three lawsuits against Panera, said what happened to Adams was preventable.
“This is a perfect and tragic example of why the warnings are completely insufficient for this product and why this product should have been pulled from the shelves before the situation occurred,” she said, adding that Panera “certainly” should have removed it. the Loaded Lemonade. after the first lawsuit was filed, if not before.
“It was a traumatic experience for Luke and his family,” Crawford added. “It was so unexpected.”
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