RICHLAND COUNTY, S.C. — Caffeine caused the death of a 16-year-old student, according to Richland County Coroner Gary Watts.
Watts held a news conference Monday to discuss the results of an investigation into the death of Davis Allen Cripe, whodied April 26 at Palmetto Health Parkridge Hospital after collapsing in a classroom.
Watts said Cripe drank a large diet Mountain Dew, a cafe latte from McDonald's and an energy drink in the two-hour period before he collapsed.
"We lost Davis from a totally legal substance," Watts said. He said he determined Cripe died from a caffeine-induced cardiac event.
"It was so much caffeine at the time of his death, that it caused his arrhythmia," he said.
"These drinks can be very dangerous," Watts said. "I'm telling my friends and family, Don't drink them."
Cripe's father said he was a good son who would never touch alcohol or drugs and he hopes the teen's death will save other lives by showing the dangers of excessive caffeine.
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9 comments:
The warning is printed on the side of the can of energy drink. But then, what teen reads and heeds warnings?
Sad sad story.
1012
get a grip on yourself. This young person died and you make a statement about teens in general and warning labels?
No, you get a grip. It's very sad that the teen died, wouldn't argue otherwise but one teen out of the millions worldwide that consume these products doesn't make a case that the product is dangerous.
Perspective. See how easy it is when you try?
I am a cardiac nurse and what most people don't also realize is that some of these energy drinks contain gingko and/or ginseng which can also cause spontaneous brain hemorrhages. They dilate cerebral blood vessels to the point where they sometimes perforate, ergo, causing brain hemorrhages. Scary stuff actually.
Starbucks is way loaded with caffeine also. The last one I drank had me bouncing off the walls so I have sworn never to have another. The "energy" drinks have always caused me concern so we don't touch them. 10:29 AM I think 10:12 was just making a general statement that like cigarettes people choose to ignore warnings thinking it will never happen to me. Sad that a young man had to die to show the extend of the risks.
Overindulgence in anything, including exercise, can kill you. The danger isn't in the caffeine, it's in the abuse, or overindulgence, of caffeinated drinks. If the caffeine didn't kill this young person, he would have died trying other illicit drugs doing what he was trying to do with caffeine...trying to get high.
10:29 AM - This story and the father's message aren't eulogies, they're warnings.
Gotta agree with 10:58 on this. If really as reported, this would be equivalent to as little as 5-6 cups of coffee, a lot yes, but also in range of what millions of coffee drinkers consume daily. My guess is an undiagnosed heart condition made fatal by caffeine.
But Marijuana never killed anyone.
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