Monster Beverage Lawsuit: Parents Blame Energy Drink For Daughter's Death

I've been around long enough (65 years) to have witnessed our country change from a sane, take responsibility for your actions, to our current out of control "it can't be my fault" sue everybody even remotely connected society. It has been bewildering watching this occur and not understanding why. Sometimes it is clear that money is the reason; but, not all of the time, this thread might be one of the non-money cases.

Deflecting blame is a possibility. By convincing themselves the drinks are dangerous it lets them off the hook.

Originally posted by spiralarchitect

Just tell them no. Empower yourself. Quit empowering government by waiting for them to make laws to give you permission to use common sense.

True.. you can say No.. we can even not sell Energy drinks or anything else you find harmful to minors.. what do you think will happen next?

The kid goes to the store next to you and buys whatever it wants..
So what you're doing there is just moving the responsibility down the road.

Or you could go to the other store/s and tell them not to sell the product themselves.
If they listen, Same scenario as above happens.
If they don't, there's nothing you can do.

If on the other hand. Society(me, you, all of us) took a stand against garbage feeding our kids, and forced them to make junk food/drinks illegal, then the whole thing changes.
Jaimie Oliver did this with macdonalds and forced them to make their junk healthier, and to include salads etc to their menus.
The empowerment comes with knowledge.
It's education to the parents and as an effect to the kids that we need. And laws that protect the consumer (even against multinational corporations that bring out this junk food/drinks).

Take a stand? Isn't that what refusing to sell that garbage is? Taking a stand?

or you could continue to say, "Well, they will get it somewhere. Might as well be me".

If you want to take a stand, then do it. Are you going to wait for the rest of the world to do it first?

I think making more laws is the exact wrong approach. We used to have "let the buyer beware" as a cornserstone of commerce. Then, somewhere along the way, we all bought into the nanny state. Now, no one wants to think on their own. They want laws to protect them.

Meanwhile, those of us who can think for ourselves have to live in this dumbed down, nerf covered world.

If you want change, BE change. But don't pretend that you care when you aren't willing to turn down 12% profit margin on a can of energy drink.

Take a stand? Isn't that what refusing to sell that garbage is? Taking a stand?

or you could continue to say, "Well, they will get it somewhere. Might as well be me".

If you want to take a stand, then do it. Are you going to wait for the rest of the world to do it first?

I think making more laws is the exact wrong approach. We used to have "let the buyer beware" as a cornserstone of commerce. Then, somewhere along the way, we all bought into the nanny state. Now, no one wants to think on their own. They want laws to protect them.

Meanwhile, those of us who can think for ourselves have to live in this dumbed down, nerf covered world.

If you want change, BE change. But don't pretend that you care when you aren't willing to turn down 12% profit margin on a can of energy drink.

You obviously haven't read my reply. If you had, you would understand that I take a stand.
Not against the retail of a Legal product like an energy drink.
But against the dumbing down of the new generations.
A kid can make the distinction of what is harmful for its body from an early age. As long as it has a decent education(from school/society/family). A forbidden product is 100 times sweeter for a teenager, as it's incorporated to their rebelion against rules.
They will find a way of getting what they want..and an energy drink is the least of our worries. Alcohol, drugs, Cigarretes.. you name it..

You said it. The profit margin(12% or less) on energy drinks etc is too small to even care about losing the product at all. It's not a matter of profit. And not everyone is an EVIL Greedy retailer thats out there to sell Death to kids. People are simply try to make a living.
By your logic all shopkeepers should remove all harmful products from their stores. Let see:
Energy drinks-Fizzy drinks-Junk food-Confectioneries... In fact.. is there Anything that is not harmful these days? Perhaps fruit? Why don't we only allow kids eat fruit and vegetables? And forbid eveything else?
Would that clasify as "taking a stand" in your world?

Anything can become a death tool to an ignorant mind. Simple things. Like an aspirin, a toy, or even an energy drink. What's there to fight ignorance?

If tommorow Energy drinks were put in the same category as alcohol and forbidden by Law for sale to under 17's, a kid would at least get a basic understanding that the product needs responsibility.. If it's legal it can't be harmful...right?
Or do we need common sense to decide what's harmful and what's not?


ps.There is no need for your aggressive tone.. we're making a discussion..if you want a flame war i won't give you the satisfaction. If you feel that strongly about the subject, you can state your opinion with arguements not insults.

reply to post by spiralarchitect


My tone is aggressive, likely, for a couple of reasons. Mostly it is because I am highly passionate about matters relating to freedom, liberty, and that all important prerequisite: personal responsibility. Without personal responsibility one cannot truly have liberty because nanny's will always want laws to protect them from irresponsible morons.

The other reason might be due to personal life stressors related to work giving me a more bullish outlook.. For this I will likely recuse myself from forum participation to keep others from having to put up with me.

My apologies.

Ok, why are you baying for the Mothers blood here?

Where in any of the articles on this thread does it state that the Mother was aware at the time that her Daughter was drinking energy drinks, or was in the presence of her Daughter whilst she was drinking energy drinks, or actually bought these drinks for her Daughter.
For all you know, the Mother only found out this information after her Daughter suffered a fatal heart attack.

Also, how do you also know that the Mother didn't tell her Daughter that she should steer away from certain things because of her heart condition?

If a 14 year old wants to consume something or do something, whether it be legal or illegal, they will go ahead and do so regardless of warnings from Parents etc. That goes for caffeine, junk food, smoking, alcohol, drugs, sex or anything else for that matter.

If you had a child of that age, do you really think you would know everything they are doing when they go and hang out with their friends?

If you had a child of that age, do you really think you would know everything they are doing when they go and hang out with their friends?

Also if you Knew what they were doing and tried to put some sense into them do you think a teen would listen?
Everything that comes out of a parents mouth after the age of 14 is simply translated into "you're not allowed to have fun or do anything you like".
Today i had a discussion with one of those kids..
I asked him how much he enjoys drinking energy drinks..
And I got a reply i wasn't expecting. "I don't anymore. It's just habbit"
I asked him if he likes juice.
Guess what.. He does..and especially a coctail we have on the menu(rasberry-banana).
So why don't you drink that instead? i asked.
"Because my friends think it's a girls drink"

Now take that statement and apply it to almost everything a teenager does everyday..
Everything is a status race. Do everything you can to become cool(or acceptable by the mob),
even if you don't like it.

reply to post by Gauss


I...sort of agree. Parents can't always watch their kids or be with them all the time (especially while at school.) Companies/stores should not be selling dangerous products to kids. The fault (if she consumed these drinks while outside the parents' house/control) would be with the government for the lack of proper regulations.

In Canada, our current Far Right government has stated that they don't see why these companies need to enforce any limit on caffeine levels in energy drinks at all. This kind of attitude demands lawsuits against the government, in my opinion, for gross neglect of safety standards.