Teenage boy dies after overdosing on caffeine

It’s the stuff of nightmares: a high school student has died after drinking too much caffeine.

Davis Allen Cripe, from South Carolina in the US, collapsed during class after drinking a cafe latte, a large Diet Mountain Dew and an energy drink within a two-hour period. The three drinks led to a caffeine-induced cardiac event, and he was pronounced dead less than an hour later.

A news conference has since been held, where a coroner Gary Watts explained that the “caffeine-induced cardiac event caused a probable arrhythmia,” adding that the death was “highly unusual”.

It is alleged that the short time period in which the drinks were consumed was a major factor in the 16 year-old's death. The latte was purchased at 12:30pm, before Cripe then drank the two energy drinks. He collapsed at 2:30pm.

Davis' autopsy showed no undiagnosed heart conditions, and that he had no conditions that could have been triggered by the extra caffeine intake.

"This was not an overdose. We lost Davis from a totally legal substance," Watts said. "Our purpose here today is to let people know, especially our young kids in school, that these drinks can be dangerous, and be very careful with how you use them, and how many you drink on a daily basis."

Cripe’s father, sean, said: "Like all parents, we worry about our kids as they grow up. We worry about their safety, their health, especially once they start driving. But it wasn't a car crash that took his life. Instead, it was an energy drink.”

Health experts have expressed concern about the high caffeine content in energy drinks, which can contain up to 240 milligrams of caffeine, according to a 2012 Consumer Reports study.