The irony of Monster Beverage's absolute 'Baumgartnering' cannot be lost on many in the market as news of incident reports released by the FDA show five people 'may' have died in recent years after drinking the energy drink. While the NYTimes notes that these reports do not prove a link between Monster Energy and the deaths or health problems, it would appear by the 18% plunge in the stock price that investors are not second-guessing. The company states it is "unaware of any fatality anywhere that has been caused by its drinks" but we suspect, just as NYC is now under the cosh of 16oz coke limits, soon enough we will see Caffeine Caps and Taurine Tariffs subjected on our un-Darwinian selves. In the meantime, may we humbly suggest the makes of the sugary energy drink undertake the (potentially job-saving or creating) manufacture of a giant catapult in an effort to be the first rubber-band-powered manned satellite launch in order to draw attention to the more important capabilities of people who drink Monster.
MNST -18%...
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Via NYTimes [5]:
Five people may have died in recent years after drinking Monster Energy, a popular energy drink that is high in caffeine, according to incident reports recently released by the Food and Drug Administration.
... The records were recently obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the mother of a 14-year-old Maryland girl who died in December from a heart arrhythmia after drinking large cans of Monster Energy on two consecutive days.
...
That spokeswoman, Judy Lin Sfetcu, added that Monster was “unaware of any fatality anywhere that has been caused by its drinks.”
In an interview, an F.D.A. spokeswoman, Shelly Burgess, said the agency had received reports of five deaths possibly linked to the drink as well as another report of a heart attack. The reports cover a period of 2004 to June of this year.
The reports do not make clear whether the incidents involved other factors, like alcohol or drugs.
...
Monster Beverage makes a variety of energy drinks with names like Monster Rehab, Monster Assault and Monster Heavy Metal. Labels on the containers state that they are “not recommended” for some consumers, including children — a group that beverage producers define as those under 12 years — and people “sensitive” to caffeine.
...
The type of 24-ounce can of Monster Energy that the Maryland teenager, Anais Fournier, drank contains 240 milligrams of caffeine, three times the amount found in an 8-ounce can of Red Bull and about 50 milligrams more than in the 20-ounce size of Red Bull.
The lawsuit filed last week on behalf of the teenager referred to autopsy and medical examiner reports that said she had died of “cardiac arrhythmia due to caffeine toxicity” that had exacerbated an existing heart problem.
A lawyer for her family, Kevin Goldberg, said that the 14-year-old had been aware she had an underlying condition but added that her doctors had not told her to restrict her physical activities or her caffeine use.
In an April letter citing the teenager’s death, Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, urged the F.D.A. to enforce caffeine levels in energy drinks.
In August, F.D.A. officials responded by saying that there was insufficient evidence to take action on caffeine levels in energy drinks. However, the agency also noted then that it had not yet received medical reports related to the Maryland teenager’s death.