TEEN DIED AFTER CONSUMING ENERGY DRINKS & NOW HER PARENTS ARE SUING

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]Hey you guys, it's Birds tonight. We're here to talk about Lissa Rodriguez. She unfortunately recently lost her life due to a popular caffeine drink and how much she was intaking of said drink in a 24-hour period of time. And now there is a lawsuit and there is a lot of chatter around this energy drink and what some people are claiming deceptive marketing.

[00:00:27]Some people are talking about how teenagers should not be drinking high amounts of caffeine anyway, but I had a few thoughts. So, if you're interested, please keep watching.

[00:00:46]All right, you guys. So, let's just start at the top. The drink in question is Alani New. And I cannot tell you how many times I have been walking around the mall, Target, at an outdoor shopping area, and I see young girls, young guys too, but often it's young girls drinking this Alami energy drink. I see it all the time, almost on a daily basis. And I always have thought, wow, if I at my big age drink an Alani, I feel overcaffeinated.

[00:01:25]I feel like my heart's beating too fast.

[00:01:27]I feel like things are just moving in a in a pattern that I don't enjoy. Now, for a long time, I had a high tolerance to caffeine. And over a year ago, I kind of went into this habit of not having a caffeinated drink in the morning like Red Bull, Nas, Monster, whatever. And instead, if I was feeling groggy, I would start with a cup of black tea or E or Earl Grey tea to get a little bit of caffeine because I don't like drip coffee. It's a whole thing. So either way, I'm coming to this as somebody who has been very familiar with energy drinks.

[00:02:09]At one time, had a very high tolerance, and even when I did have a high tolerance, an Alani would make me feel out of sorts. So, put that into a literal high schooler. What are we doing? But let's start with everything that's going on here. A lawsuit recently filed in Texas claims a popular energy drink led to the death of a 17-year-old cheerleader. According to attorneys for the teens family, a coroner's report found that Lissa Rodriguez died in October from an enlarged heart caused by stress and a large amount of caffeine from Alani energy drinks. And based on what I have seen, she would have in between one and two of these per day.

[00:02:55]And one can of Alani has 200 milligrams of caffeine. Again, that is a large amount of caffeine for uh a high schooler. I I'm not sure at what point in time we normalize these high schoolers walking around drinking 200 milligrams of caffeine and sometimes drinking two or three of these per day.

[00:03:16]Now, before I continue, her family is heavily focused on how hard it was to figure out how much caffeine was in an Alani.

[00:03:26]I have to say, of all of the energy drinks that I've ever consumed, Alani is one of those where in very large numbers on the side of their can, they tell you that it has 200 milligrams of caffeine.

[00:03:39]Now, if you compare that to a Red Bull, yes, it's more difficult to find the caffeine content on a Red Bull, but Alani, it takes two seconds. And you can very clearly see that there's 200 mg per can in this beverage. The wrongful death filing claims that Alani drinks contain twice the maximum daily amount of caffeine recommended for teens along with undisclosed amounts of stimulants that can be I'm sorry that can cause cardiac issues and death. This is a heartbreaking and entirely preventable tragedy. No family should have to bury their child because a product was aggressively marketed as safe while failing to adequately warn about its dangerous effects. And that's what the family attorney had to say. The company that produces Alani Energy Drinks, Glazers Beer and Beverage, has not responded to the lawsuit. Alani energy drinks typically contain 200 milligrams of caffeine per can, which is equal to about two cups of coffee. Cans of Alani display this warning. Not recommended for children, people sensitive to caffeine, pregnant women, or women who are nursing. The Rodriguez family said that Lissa had a bright future, and had been accepted into nearly 20 colleges and universities before her passing.

[00:05:00]Before I get into the rest of my thoughts about energy drinks and teens, I want to make it very clear, having a 17-year-old lose their life is heartbreaking and tragic. No matter if it's this way or from an accident or some kind of medical issue, losing somebody that young is extremely layered, complex, and tragic all around.

[00:05:24]Now, do I think that they're going to win this lawsuit?

[00:05:28]Probably not, because you have disclosed that your 17-year-old child was taking in far too much of this energy drink.

[00:05:38]Even if it is marketed in a way where it's like, you know, candy flavors and colorful cans and all of that kind of stuff, the warnings are on the can and warnings are on a can for a reason. And as far as teens taking in caffeine, their recommended daily intake should be less than 100 milligrams, the equivalent of an 8 oz cup of coffee or two cans of soda, and children under 12 should not have it at all. But I go back to the same question that I had in the beginning. Of all of the choices for beverages and things that teenagers have access to, why is it that parents are allowing their children to intake these beverages that have 200 milligrams of caffeine per can and many of them are consuming more than one per day? Because while a lot of people are attacking this company and I'm typically not here to take a company's side, I am looking at this as somebody that has common sense and common knowledge and you're trying to say that the company was misleading or not representing what was in the beverage and that's kind of your your footing as to why this is their fault. At the end of the day, until that child is a legal adult, it is up to the parents to stop this kind of dangerous behavior when they know good and well that their teenager should not be guzzling down Alanis or Celsiuses when they're at school. I know a lot of my subscribers have children and I would love to hear from y'all. If you have teens, do you let them drink Alanis? Do you allow them to drink more than one a day? Do you not allow it at all? How do you feel about soda? How do you feel about coffee? I'd love to hear what y'all have to say about all of this down below. Before I close out, I will share a story from when I was about this girl's age. I ended up going to the mall with my mom and I really wanted to try this new coffee drink that was at Cinnabun. Now, Cinnabun is still in malls all the time.

[00:07:54]Back then they had introduced this like coffee frappe. It was kind of like a frappuccino but it looked so good and I wanted to try it really bad. Now you know my mom allowed me to have it and I am not kidding y'all. My 17-year-old body could not handle the amount of caffeine that was in this drink. And you know how it feels when you're overcaffeinated.

[00:08:24]I had to literally end up sitting down in one of the, you know, rest areas in the mall for almost an hour before I felt okay to walk. So in closing, I don't think that teens should be drinking Alanis every single day. And I think that it's also the responsibility of the parent because again, we are not talking about adults that can make their own decisions.

[00:08:49]These are technically children even if they are 17 about to turn 18. And evidently this young girl had a long history with Alani. Her either prom or homecoming invite had an Alani can on it. So this was just kind of like part of who she was and the parents knew about it. And now it's ended in a heartbreaking situation. and they are switching their tune, wanting to sue the company, claiming deceptive marketing information was hard to find. And I just don't think it's going to shake out very well for them, but I could be wrong.

[00:09:34]I'll keep an eye on it. But that's how I feel for today. So, if you like the video, please leave a like and a comment. And if you'd like to see more from me in the future, please subscribe.

[00:09:42]I'll see you guys soon. Bye.