5-Hour Energy Drink Responds to Death Claims

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According to the Food and Drug Administration, 13 deaths over four years may be linked to the caffeine-infused 5-Hour Energy drink. More than 90 filings with the FDA have cited the beverage as a possible cause of heart attacks and other physical problems.

Packaged not as a beverage but as a shot, 5-Hour Energy is marketed as a dietary supplement, which makes regulation challenging for the FDA.

Manoj Bhargava, CEO of Living Essentials, the company that distributes the product, originally told The New York Times, "I am not interested in making any comment." However, the company has since issued a statement defending the product and its warnings to users.

5-Hour Energy

Discussion Starters:

  • Analyze Living Essentials' statement. What are the strongest and weakest arguments?
  • In the statement, the company makes no mention of the deaths potentially associated with the product. Why or why not is this a good decision?
  • What else, if anything, could the company include in its statement?