Case Overview and Product Description In December of 2011, 14 year old Anais Fournier purchased and consumed two 24 oz Monster Energy drinks within one 24 hour period. This is the equivalent of 6 servings for an adult. She went into cardiac arrest the night of December 17th and died the evening of December 18th. Her parents sue Monster for damages on the basis of Strict Liability and Negligence. Monster is sold as dietary supplements instead of food item, so it is not as strictly regulated. It is marketed as a supplement that increases energy, promotes focus, and helps with weight loss. The drink contains an excessive amount of caffeine and other drugs that combine to increase heart rate, body temperature, and neural stimulation. Two 24 oz servings of Monster is above a safe dose of caffeine for most bodily demographics. Within 15 minutes of consumption the effects of the caffeine kick in. Due to increased neural sensitivity and dehydration, painful headaches are very common. 24 oz of Monster is also a lot of liquid to drink. Drinking 12 oz causes most people discomfort and would cause a reasonable person to stop drinking. The body naturally feels the danger because it is under a lot of stress from the beverage. For most reasonable people this bodily danger is obvious. Despite this physical discomfort, many people continue to abuse Monster. Thousands have ended up in the ER, and tragically there have been over 5 fatalities involving Monster.
Comparison to McDonald's Hot Coffee Case In the McDonald’s Hot Coffee case, an elderly woman spilled a scalding hot cup of coffee on her groin area causing severe burns. She won a large settlement because the coffee was an unreasonably hot 190 degrees. The was no warning on the cup. Even though she spilled it on her own lap, 80% of the fault was apportioned to McDonald’s for making the coffee so hot. The key point of