Energy Drinks Under Scrutiny After Deaths

By Maggie Fox and Linda Carroll, NBC News

Energy Drinks Under Scrutiny After Deaths

October 23, 2012 Updated Oct 23, 2012 at 4:35 PM PDT

Does this sound like you? Two cups of coffee in the morning, a coffee break at 11 or so, another cup in the afternoon and a cup after dinner? That might be enough to interfere with sleep or even give some people the jitters, but it’s nowhere near an overdose.

It may also be nothing compared to what some teenagers are consuming to deal with schoolwork or job pressures.

James Stone, a 19-year-old from Wallingford, Conn., died in 2006 after he took nearly two dozen NoDoz tablets. Each tablet has about 200 mg of caffeine – about twice that found in a cup of coffee. But while it would be near impossible to down 48 cups of coffee in a few hours, it’s relatively easy to pop a handful of small tablets.

Now the question is whether guzzling energy drinks might be as dangerous as popping No-Doz.

The Food and Drug Administration is investigating reports that five people died and one survived a heart attack after consuming energy drinks. It is not yet clear whether the drinks actually caused – or even contributed to - those adverse events, said FDA spokeswoman Shelly Burgess.

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