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Judge Allows Redline Energy Drink Class Action to Proceed
By Anne Bucher
U.S. District Judge William J. Zloch refused to dismiss a proposed class action lawsuit filed against Vital Pharmaceuticals in which a plaintiff alleged he was hospitalized after consuming the company’s Redline energy drink.
Judge Zloch held that Vital’s concerns brought up in the company’s motion to dismiss could be addressed later in the legal proceedings, after both parties to the Redline class action lawsuit had completed discovery.
Adam Mirabella initially filed the Redline class action lawsuit in October 2012, alleging that the energy drink can cause chills, chest pain, convulsions, vomiting and rapid heartbeat. He accuses Vital of marketing Redline as a safe source of energy even though many people have allegedly been hospitalized after consuming the beverage. Instead, Mirabella argues, Redline “instead causes adverse health effects. Plaintiff, and all other similarly situated consumers, did not bargain for adverse health effects in exchange for their payment of the purchase price.”
In his class action lawsuit, Mirabella alleged that his heart continued to race for up to 10 hours after he drank the Redline energy supplement. He also experienced extreme chest pain, extreme nausea and loss of sensation in his hands. Because of these conditions, he required hospitalization and two days of sedation. He claims that the emergency room physician told him that his symptoms resembled those of a cocaine overdose.
Prior to filing the Redline class action lawsuit, Mirabella claims that he spoke with nutrition scientist Sheri Zidenberg-Cherr, Ph.D., to conduct a detailed analysis of the product and its ingredients. The ingredients include vinpocetine, a botanical extract that can cause anxiety, dry mouth and nausea, and yohimbine, a stimulant that can cause panic attacks and hallucinations. In addition to these ingredients, Redline also contains high concentrations of caffeine and other energy-enhancing ingredients such as 5-HTP, tyrosine and evodiamine.
Mirabella believes that Zidenberg-Cherr’s testimony will establish that, because of its ingredients, is unfit for human consumption. She will also establish that Vital has inadequately labeled its products as specified by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) by using difficult to read print and font size.
Mirabella is suing for violation of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, breach of warranty and unjust enrichment. He has filed the lawsuit on behalf of a nationwide class of consumers who purchased Redline for their personal use.
In January, Vital filed a motion to dismiss the class action lawsuit, alleging that Mirabella’s case failed to meet federal class action standards. The company claimed that his claim would be more adequately handled as a personal injury lawsuit. The company also believes that, because Mirabella is from Texas, his claims under Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act cannot survive.
The Redline Energy Drink Class Action Lawsuit case is Adam Mirabella v. Vital Pharmaceuticals, Case No. 12-62086, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Mirabella is represented by Joshua Harris Eggnatz of the Eggnatz Law Firm PA.
Updated June 29th, 2013
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