October 07, 2024
Bob Self/Florida Times-Union; USA TODAY NETWORK
Panera Bread has settled a wrongful death lawsuit with the family of University of Pennsylvania student Sarah Katz, who died two years ago after drinking the company's Charged Lemonade beverage.
Panera Bread has reached a settlement with the family of the University of Pennsylvania student who suffered a fatal heart attack after she drank the chain's highly caffeinated Charged Lemonade two years ago. The lawsuit made national news and was the first of four filed against Panera Bread over the discontinued drink, which was linked to at least one other death.
Sarah Katz, 21, died in September 2022 after she drank the Charged Lemonade while with her friends at a Panera Bread in West Philadelphia. Hours later, Katz went into cardiac arrest during a birthday gathering for a friend at another restaurant and died at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center.
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Elizabeth Crawford, a partner at Kline & Specter confirmed the settlement in an interview with NBC News on Monday, but did not disclose the terms of the agreement. The Philadelphia-based law firm also is handling the other three cases against Panera. Panera did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The settlement came ahead of a trial that was expected to start this month.
Katz's family said she had a rare heart condition called long QT syndrome, which can cause abnormal heart rhythms and electrical activity due to stress or heavy exercise. People with the condition are advised to limit their caffeine consumption to prevent heart-rate spikes. Katz's family said she had regular medical checkups during her life to monitor her heart and that she was vigilant about drinking caffeine.
At the time of Katz's death, Panera advertised Charged Lemonade as "plant-based and clean," and the company claimed it had about the same amount of caffeine as its dark roast coffee. The company's website said the drink contained 260 milligrams of caffeine in a 20-ounce drink and 390 milligrams in a 30-ounce drink. The beverage also contained the stimulant guarana extract and nearly 30 teaspoons of sugar, the lawsuit claimed.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends no more than 400 milligrams of caffeine per day for healthy adults. Katz's family noted that a 12-ounce Red Bull energy drink has 114 milligrams of caffeine and a 16-ounce Monster Energy drink has 160 milligrams of caffeine.
The drink was self-served in Panera's stores at the time of Katz's death. She was a member of Panera's Unlimited Sips Club membership and had tried Charged Lemonade on one other occasion before she died, according to the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Katz's family.
The Katz family claimed Panera did not clearly label Charged Lemonade as an energy drink in its stores, despite calling it the "the ultimate energy drink" on its website. On the menu in stores, Charged Lemonade was included alongside Panera's non-caffeinated and less-caffeinated beverages.
The Katz family's lawsuit contended Panera "engaged in negligent, reckless, intentional, fraudulent ... and/or outrageous misconduct."
After the suit was filed last year, Panera initially moved Charged Lemonade behind store counters, updated the drink's nutritional information and recommended that it be consumed in moderation. The company also advised that children, pregnant and nursing women, and people with caffeine sensitivities not drink Charged Lemonade.
In December, another wrongful death lawsuit was filed against Panera by the family of a 46-year-old Florida man who went into cardiac arrest and died after regularly drinking Charged Lemonade over a two-week period. Two other lawsuits claim Charged Lemonade caused permanent heart injuries in people who were previously healthy.
The medical examiner's report in Katz's death determined she died from cardiac arrhythmia due to long QT syndrome. The report did not list caffeine as a contributing factor, but no other drugs were found in Katz's system at the time of her death, her family said.
Panera announced in May that it had discontinued Charged Lemonade as part of a wider menu transformation meant to introduce a new line of flavored drinks.
Katz was a junior studying international relations at Penn and had worked as a research assistant at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Before her death, she had participated in advocacy for legislation in Pennsylvania to make schools "heart safe" for students.
