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A highly caffeinated drink sold by US bakery chain Panera Bread has been blamed for two deaths after a second lawsuit was filed on Monday.

Dennis Brown is said to have drunk three Charged Lemonades from a Panera Bread on 9 October before suffering a fatal cardiac arrest on his way home in Florida, according to Sky News’ partner network NBC News.

The 46-year-old did not normally consume energy drinks because he had high blood pressure, according to lawsuit filed this week.

It adds that it is unclear whether Mr Brown, who had had a developmental delay and a mild intellectual disability, knew how much caffeine and sugar was in the drink because it was available in self-serve dispensers “offered side-by-side with all of the store’s non-caffeinated and/or less caffeinated drinks.”

Mr Brown’s cause of death was cardiac arrest due to hypertensive disease, according to a death certificate seen by NBC News.

‘Dangerous’

Panera advertises the beverage as “plant-based an clean with as much caffeine as our dark roast coffee.”

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The complaints refer to it as a “dangerous energy drink” and argue that Panera fails to appropriately warn consumers about its caffeine contents.

A large cup, the lawsuits allege, contains 390mg of caffeine – more than the caffeine content of standard cans of Red Bull and Monster energy drinks combined.

In a statement provided to NBC News, Panera expressed its “deep sympathy for Mr Brown’s family” and said it stood by the safety of its products.

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“Based on our investigation we believe his unfortunate passing was not caused by one of the company’s products,” it added.

“We view this lawsuit, which was filed by the same law firm as a previous claim, to be equally without merit. Panera stands firmly by the safety of our products.”

The first legal complaint referred to Sarah Katz, who died on 10 September last year after going into cardiac arrest.

The lawsuit filed in October alleges the 21-year-old, who had a heart condition called long QT syndrome type 1, bought a Charged Lemonade from a Panera Bread store in Philadelphia hours before her death.

She did this, it claims, despite the fact she avoided energy drinks at the recommendation of her doctors.

Her roommate and close friend, Victoria Rose Conroy, told NBC News: “She [Ms Katz] was very, very vigilant about what she needed to do to keep herself safe.

“I guarantee if Sarah had known how much caffeine this was, she never would have touched it with a 10-foot pole.”

A Panera spokesperson at the time said: “We were very saddened to learn this morning about the tragic passing of Sarah Katz, and our hearts go out to her family.

“At Panera, we strongly believe in transparency around our ingredients. We will work quickly to thoroughly investigate this matter.”

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Five family members, including 2-year-old, found dead alongside teen with gunshot wounds at Utah home

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Five family members, including 2-year-old, found dead alongside teen with gunshot wounds at Utah home

Five members of the same family, including a two-year-old girl, have been found dead at a home in the US state of Utah.

A 17-year-old boy was also found alive but with gunshot wounds.

It is not yet clear whether he is a suspect or victim in the case, according to local police.

Roxeanne Vainuku, police spokesperson for West Valley City, a suburb of Salt Lake City, said it’s thought to be an isolated incident and “we do not believe there’s a suspect on the loose”.

A nine-year-old girl and 11-year-old boy were found alongside the 2-year-old and a man, 42, and woman, 38.

Technicians investigate a crime scene where police say multiple family members were found dead inside a home in West Valley City, Utah, Tuesday Dec. 17, 2024. (Scott G. Winterton/The Deseret News via AP)
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Forensic teams examine the family home in West Valley City. Pic: The Deseret News/AP

It has not been revealed how the five people died and forensic teams have been at the house as part of a homicide investigation.

Police were alerted on Tuesday by a concerned relative who entered the home through the garage and found the 17-year-old boy alive.

The boy “suffered a pretty significant injury”, Ms Vainuku said, adding that “we’ve not really been able to communicate with him”.

When officers arrived they discovered the victims in the main part of the home.

The victims appeared to match what police know about who lived at the house – a family with two parents and four children ages 2 to 17, Ms Vainuku said.

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Police were initially called to the home on Monday after a relative said the woman who lives there had not been in touch for a few days.

Officers did not get any response and left, as there was no sign of an emergency, before returning on Tuesday evening when the same women called them again.

West Valley City is about 10 miles (16km) southwest of Salt Lake City.

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Joseph Corcoran: Indiana executes first death row inmate in 15 years

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Joseph Corcoran: Indiana executes first death row inmate in 15 years

A death row inmate’s last words were “let’s get this over with” before he became the first person to be executed in the US state of Indiana in 15 years.

Joseph Corcoran, 49, died by lethal injection on Wednesday for the 1997 murders of his brother, his sister’s fiancee and two other men.

He had been on death row since 1999 and was executed despite his legal team and campaigners appealing to Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb to use his powers to grant clemency.

In a petition to the federal courts, including the US Supreme Court, the quadruple murderer’s lawyers maintained that he suffered from “severe and longstanding paranoid schizophrenia”.

They added that this was documented in self-published books from prison in which he described being subject to “ultrasonic surveillance”.

Deputy public defender Joanna Green said on Tuesday: “If the courts do not stay the execution, we are asking Gov Holcomb to grant clemency to Joe, a seriously mentally ill man.”

It came a day after a federal appeals court ruled that Corcoran was mentally fit enough to be executed.

Anti-death penalty groups had spent the past few days demonstrating outside Indiana’s state capitol building which houses the office of Mr Holcomb, the Indiana General Assembly and the Indiana Supreme Court.

They also delivered letters to Mr Holcomb’s office urging him to grant clemency.

Holcomb’s office did not immediately respond to a request from Sky News’ US partner network NBC News on Tuesday.

The governor announced in June that the state had procured pentobarbital, a sedative used in lethal injections, after “years of effort”.

He said at the time: “Accordingly, I am fulfilling my duties as governor to follow the law and move forward appropriately in this matter.”

An undated photo of Joseph Corcoran. Pic: AP
Image:
An undated photo of Joseph Corcoran. Pic: AP

Corcoran’s last meal

The Indiana Department of Correction began the execution process shortly after midnight local time on Wednesday and Corcoran was pronounced dead around 44 minutes later.

The department said his last words were: “Not really. Let’s get this over with.”

Corcoran requested Ben & Jerry’s ice cream as his last meal, the department added.

Ahead of the execution, anti-death penalty campaigners criticised the Indiana Department of Correction for carrying out the process without media witnesses.

Of the 27 states that still allow for capital punishment, only Indiana and Wyoming exclude media witnesses, according to the Death Penalty Information Centre.

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‘It’s going to ruin Christmas’

Before the execution, David Frank, the president of the Indiana Abolition Coalition, made reference to Christmas when he said: “One week before we welcome the light of the Prince of Peace into the world… the state in secret, under cover of darkness, plans to take the life of Mr Corcoran.”

Meanwhile, Corcoran’s sister Kelly Ernst, whose fiancee Robert Scott Turner was one of his victims, said she believes the death penalty should be abolished and criticised the state’s decision to execute her brother a week before Christmas.

Ms Ernst said: “My sister and I, our birthdays are in December… I mean, it just feels like it’s going to ruin Christmas for the rest of our lives. That’s just what it feels like.”

What was Corcoran convicted of?

Corcoran was 22 when he fatally shot his brother James, 30, at the home they shared in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

He also killed Turner, 32, and friends Douglas Stillwell and Timothy Bricker, both 30.

Five years earlier, Corcoran was acquitted of the murders of his parents, Jack and Kathryn Corcoran, after jurors found not enough evidence to convict.

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Luigi Mangione charged with murder as an act of terrorism after healthcare boss shooting

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Luigi Mangione charged with murder as an act of terrorism after healthcare boss shooting

The man accused of killing an insurance firm chief in New York has been charged with murder as an act of terrorism.

Luigi Mangione is suspected of shooting Brian Thompson, chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, on 4 December.

He had already been charged with murder but the terror allegation is new.

Police arrested him after a manhunt that ended with them finding the 26-year-old in a McDonald’s.

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