Zach Maxwell

Staff Reporter

A Durant woman is suing the makers and local distributor of the popular Monster energy drink on behalf of her teenage son.

The lawsuit, filed in January in Bryan County District Court, claims Angela Wheat’s 16-year-old son collapsed and went into cardiac arrest after consuming a Monster energy drink in November 2011. The suit names as defendants the California-based drink maker as well as local distributor Ed F. Davis, Inc.

According to the lawsuit, the boy purchased a Monster beverage and went to a local church for volunteer work.

“Shortly after consuming the Monster Energy drink, (he) collapsed and lost consciousness while working with other church members to clean the church,” the lawsuit states. He was given CPR and transported to Medical Center of Southeastern Oklahoma and later OU Children’s Hospital.

The lawsuit directly blames his consumption of the energy drink for the medical episode. “To this date, (the boy) remains under the care of various physicians and therapists for continued diagnosis, evaluation and treatment of the injuries he suffered as a result of his consumption of the Monster Energy drink…” the lawsuit states.

The suit is seeking unspecified damages in excess of $75,000 and lists several accusations. Those include a “design defect and failure to warn” on the drink’s packaging, negligence, unfair and deceptive trade practices, and punitive damages.

The lawsuit is believed to be one of the first in Oklahoma accusing Monster Energy drink and its distributors of playing a role in an injury. A 2012 report by the Food and Drug Administration outlined five deaths in a three-year time span which may have been associated with the high-caffeine beverage.

The FDA report did not prove a link between the drink and those deaths, according to an October 2012 article in the New York Times. The parents of a Maryland teen filed a lawsuit last year against the company, alleging that the beverage caused their daughter's death.