In April, the family sued Glazer’s Beer and Beverage, the distributor of Alani Nu energy drinks to the retailers where Larissa purchased them, for wrongful death. There are 200 milligrams of caffeine in a 12-ounce can of the beverage she regularly drank, sometimes once a day, sometimes more, frequently before school or during sports practice. The FDA advises teenagers between the ages of 12 and 17 to limit their daily caffeine intake to 100 mg. Before the day has truly begun, a single Alani Nu puts a teenager at twice that limit.

Larissa’s parents and other family members attended a press conference hosted by the family’s lawyer, Benny Agosto Jr. The girl he spoke of was “full of life, full of love, smart, academic and with a bright future.” He claimed that despite the medical examiner testing for a wide range of substances, no alcohol or drugs of any kind were discovered. “Caffeine was the only substance in her system.” It was difficult to ignore the gravity of what he was describing as he stood there and made that statement with her family by his side. On the way to cheerleading practice, an adolescent died as a result of something she purchased at a convenience store.

Key Information: Rodriguez v. Glazer’s Beer and Beverage

The lawsuit is specific about how Larissa started consuming Alani Nu on a regular basis, and that aspect of the complaint is worth considering. Social media is how she found out about it. Influencers she followed discussed it in relation to fitness, beauty, wellness, and leading an active lifestyle. The colors of the cans are pastel. The flavors include Rocket Pop, Hawaiian Shaved Ice, Cherry Slush, and Cosmic Stardust. B vitamins, natural ingredients, and zero sugar are all mentioned in the branding. The complaint details a product that functions as a concentrated caffeine delivery system but is made to look like a health beverage. It contends that the primary act of negligence is the discrepancy between appearance and reality. According to her lawyer, Larissa’s homecoming invitation included a picture of an Alani Nu can. It was now so ingrained in her social environment.

In a statement offering condolences, Celsius Inc., the company that purchased Alani Nu in April 2025 for $1.8 billion, noted that the drink’s label discloses 200 mg of caffeine and that it is not advised for children under the age of 18. According to the company, its products meet federal labeling regulations. Although Agosto stated that this could change as discovery moves forward, Celsius is not listed as a defendant in the current lawsuit. The distributors who, in his words, “receive it, distribute it and put it all over the place” are the named defendants. The legal reasoning is that the manufacturer and the chain of distribution are both accountable, especially when warnings are insufficient.

Furthermore, the warnings are insufficient by most reasonable interpretations. According to the lawsuit, the product is not advised for children under the age of eighteen, those who are sensitive to caffeine, or pregnant women. This information is written on the back of the can in small, easily missed print. It is not stated on the label that drinking this product on a regular basis may result in cardiomyopathy, cardiac arrhythmia, or even death. There isn’t a warning about daily maximum consumption. Nothing can convince a 17-year-old who has been told by influencers that this drink is a part of an active, healthy lifestyle that every can stresses her heart. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued a recall and safety warning for Alani Nu due to its caffeine content and labeling in 2023 after Canada realized this. In the US, there isn’t a comparable law.

The industry has been navigating a larger pattern for years, which this case fits into. Due to the high caffeine content of its Charged Lemonade drinks, which were placed in store refrigerators with regular lemonades without sufficient notice, Panera Bread was sued for wrongful death. In May 2024, Panera quietly discontinued the product. Energy drinks should not be consumed by children and adolescents, according to the American College of Sports Medicine, the American Medical Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. These are not positions on the periphery. The main American medical associations agree with them. In response, the industry has typically placed a brief warning on the back of the can and kept up its aggressive marketing to the precise demographic that those medical organizations are cautioning about.

There is something genuinely challenging about the industry’s position as I watch this develop. Legally speaking, Celsius’s claim that the label “complies with applicable federal labeling requirements” is most likely accurate. By design, the requirements are not very strict. The lawsuit asks the courts to decide whether a company’s obligation to comply with lax regulations is discharged when it is aware that its product is being consumed by teenagers in amounts that surpass safe limits—knowing this because it developed its marketing strategy around reaching them.

According to Larissa’s family, money is not what they want. They want things to change. They are looking for a label that conveys risk. They seek a regulatory framework that treats teen-marketed concentrated caffeine beverages with the same gravity as other potentially hazardous consumer goods. Whether this lawsuit will result in any of that is still unknown. Damages, not product formulations, are decided by courts. However, incidents like this one tend to pile up, and eventually the industry will have to face a reality that cannot be fully absorbed by a press release about labeling compliance.

The post Energy Drinks and Sudden Death: The Heartbreaking U.S. Lawsuit Over a 17-Year-Old Cheerleader appeared first on Creative Learning Guild.