Latest news with #LongQTsyndrome
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Legislator pushes for caffeine label law after 2022 death blamed on Charged Lemonade
A New Jersey congressman wants to pass legislation that would increase transparency around caffeine content, three years after the death of a student with a heart condition who consumed a highly caffeinated lemonade. Named in honor of the 21-year-old student, the Sarah Katz Caffeine Safety Act would require restaurant chains to disclose on menus and drive-thru kiosks whether a food or drink contains 150 milligrams or more of caffeine, which is about as much as is in a 16-ounce caffe latte or three cans of Diet Coke. The bill from Rep. Rob Menendez, D-N.J., would also require energy drink companies to label the amount of caffeine and other stimulants in their beverages. 'It's simple. We want every consumer to know what they're drinking,' he said at a news conference Monday. 'These changes will ensure that everyone, no matter how old or young, can walk into a store or order off a menu and know with confidence how much caffeine is in their drink.' The bipartisan legislation would also direct federal agencies to increase public education about the effects of caffeine and to study the way that energy drinks are marketed to young people. Menendez introduced the bill at the end of last year. He reintroduced it this week in Katz's hometown of Jersey City, flanked by her parents and other parents who lost their children to sudden cardiac arrest. 'I think Sarah would be really proud,' her mother, Jill Katz, told NBC News on Wednesday. 'She can't help people anymore, but we can.' Katz had been diagnosed at a young age with a genetic heart condition called Long QT syndrome, which the American Heart Association describes as a disorder of the heart's electrical system that can cause abnormal heart rhythms. It can be well-managed with medication and lifestyle changes, and Katz avoided energy drinks at her doctors' recommendation. In September 2022, Katz bought a Charged Lemonade from a Panera Bread restaurant in Philadelphia and later went into cardiac arrest, according to a 2023 wrongful death lawsuit filed by her family that ended in a settlement with Panera last fall. A friend told NBC News that Katz would not have consumed the lemonade had she known what was in it: A large cup of the Charged Lemonade contained 390 milligrams of caffeine when served without ice, which is nearly the total daily maximum amount of 400 milligrams that the Food and Drug Administration recommends for healthy adults. The drink also contained guarana, another stimulant commonly found in energy drinks. The Charged Lemonade was dispensed to customers side-by-side with non-caffeinated beverages at self-serve stations, the lawsuit said, which called it a 'dangerous energy drink' that Panera should have known could cause 'catastrophic injuries and/or death.' Panera has denied wrongdoing in court documents. It instituted a number of changes following the lawsuit, including moving the Charged Lemonade behind the counter and updating its nutrition information to reflect how much caffeine was in the drink when it was served with ice. It also added prominent signs cautioning that Charged Lemonade contained caffeine, should be consumed in moderation and was not recommended for children, people sensitive to caffeine, pregnant or nursing women. In May, the bakery-cafe chain announced it was discontinuing the beverage as part of a 'recent menu transformation.' The lawsuit was the first of at least four that Panera ended up facing over its Charged Lemonade. A second lawsuit blamed it for a Florida man's death, while the other two alleged that the drink caused permanent heart injuries in previously healthy people. Those three lawsuits are ongoing. Panera has stood by the safety of its products. Following the second death, it said in a statement that it felt the customer's 'unfortunate passing was not caused by one of the company's products.' Menendez's bill is endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, heart health organizations and consumer advocacy groups. 'Caffeine's reinforcing properties create powerful incentives for companies to use it in their products, at levels higher than many consumers would prefer, including for products marketed to children,' Thomas Gremillion, director of food policy at the Consumer Federation of America, said in a statement. 'The Sarah Katz Caffeine Safety Act provides a check on these perverse incentives, and allows consumers to decide how much, if any, caffeine is right for them.' The American Beverage Association, a trade group, told NBC News that nearly all energy drink manufacturers already voluntarily abide by the association's guidelines for labeling, which includes declaring the total amount of caffeine from all sources on cans. (Ingredients such as guarana are listed in the beverage's nutrition panel.) 'For more than a decade, America's leading energy drink manufacturers have gone beyond all federal requirements when it comes to responsible labeling and marketing practices by displaying total caffeine content from all sources on labels and adhering to a long-standing commitment to not market to children,' the association said in an emailed statement. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Yahoo
Family of deported child recovering from brain cancer accuses CBP of ‘serious abuses'
A family deported to Mexico while seeking brain cancer treatment for their 10-year-old daughter in Texas has requested an investigation into alleged abuses they claim they faced while in U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody last month. According to a civil rights complaint first obtained by NBC News, the family alleges law enforcement committed 'serious abuses' when it denied medical care to the 10-year-old girl, who is a U.S. citizen. The mixed-status family also alleges they were detained 'in deplorable conditions' before being removed to Mexico, where they say some of their children's lives 'are in peril because of their status as U.S. citizens.' On Feb. 3, the family was stopped by CBP officials at an immigration checkpoint in Texas while they were traveling to an emergency medical appointment for their 10-year-old daughter. During prior trips, the girl's undocumented parents were allowed through the checkpoint after presenting authorities with letters from their daughter's doctors and lawyers. But this time, the parents were told those letters were insufficient. Immigration authorities arrested the parents after they were unable to show legal immigration documentation. The family's attorney, Daniel Woodward, said the parents have 'no criminal history' and were in the process of obtaining T visas, a temporary immigration benefit for victims of human trafficking. The girl's mother told NBC News they arrived in the U.S. from Mexico in 2013 and settled in Texas hoping for 'a better life for the family.' In addition to the couple's 10-year-old daughter, four of their children, ages 15, 13, 8 and 6 — three of whom are U.S. citizens — were with them when they were arrested. Following their arrest, the parents and their five children were taken to a detention facility. They were loaded on a van 24 hours later and dropped on the Mexico side of a bridge. The Texas Civil Rights Project, a legal advocacy and litigation organization representing the family, filed the complaint Monday with the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. The 10-year-old isn't the only member of the family who is being treated for a medical condition. The couple's 15-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter both have a serious medical condition, a heart disorder, known as Long QT syndrome, that causes irregular heartbeats and can be life-threatening without proper treatment. In the complaint, the family alleges CBP's medical team knew it had custody of 'three children with complex medical needs, one of whom was complaining of urgent and serious symptoms.' Despite that, authorities failed to transfer the children to a medical facility 'to obtain pediatric medical review.' The complaint alleges this was in violation of the Flores Settlement Agreement, which regulates how minors must be treated in federal immigration custody. 'Twelve hours earlier, [the 10-year-old girl's] parents were so worried about her that they rushed the family towards Houston for emergency care. Instead of granting her that care, CBP forced a child who was still recovering from brain surgery to sleep in a hot, dirty, brightly lit cell,' the complaint reads. The document alleges the children were inappropriately searched during their detention: 'Officers searched each member of the family, including the pat downs of sensitive parts of their bodies. [The] six-year-old … a U.S. citizen, later asked his mom why they touched him 'down there.'' The complaint also alleges that authorities denied the family adequate access to their attorney and threatened them with permanent separation unless the parents signed the deportation order. 'One officer threatened that the government would take away her children and she would never speak to them again,' the complaint alleges. In a statement, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson called reports of the family's situation 'inaccurate,' because when 'someone is given expedited removal orders and chooses to disregard them, they will face the consequences.' According to the 10-year-old girl's mother, since the family was deported last month, her daughter has been unable to access the follow-up care she needs. The girl still suffers from swelling in her brain and difficulties with speech and mobility on the right side of her body. The mother also told NBC News that all of her children are unable to sleep due to concerns about their safety, having been deported to an area of Mexico where U.S. citizens are often kidnapped. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Trump admin deports 10-year-old U.S. citizen recovering from brain cancer to Mexico
A Texas family on their way to an emergency medical check-up for their 10-year-old daughter, who is recovering from brain cancer, was detained by immigration authorities and hastily deported to Mexico last month. In early February, Customs and Border Protection stopped the family at an immigration checkpoint while they were traveling from Rio Grande, Texas, where they lived, to Houston, where their daughter's specialists are located — a trip the family had made at least five other times before without incident, according to an attorney representing the family. During their previous trips, the undocumented parents of the 10-year-old, who is a U.S. citizen, were allowed through the checkpoint after presenting authorities with letters from lawyers and their daughter's doctors. This time, however, authorities deemed those letters insufficient and arrested the parents for not providing proper documentation. The family's attorney said the parents have no criminal history. In addition to the 10-year-old girl, four other children, all but one born in the U.S., were in the car with the parents when they were detained. The parents were then forced to make a difficult decision: Return to Mexico as a family, or leave their children behind in the U.S. As NBC News reports, that's hardly a choice: [U]ndocumented parents of U.S.-born children, if picked up by immigration authorities, face the risk of losing custody of their children. Without a power-of-attorney document or a guardianship outlining who will take care of the children left behind, the children go into the U.S. foster care system, making it harder for the parents to regain custody of their children in the future. The family ultimately decided to remain together. The 10-year-old girl was diagnosed with brain cancer last year and recently underwent surgery to remove the tumor. Doctors in Houston have been closely monitoring her recovery. After the family was detained, the mother, who spoke exclusively to NBC News, said authorities took the family to a detention center, where they separated her and her daughters from her husband and sons. Within hours, CBP agents loaded the family into a van and dropped them in Mexico. After spending time in a shelter, the family has moved into a house. However, according to the mother, her children are unable to sleep due to concerns about their safety, having been left in an area of Mexico where U.S. citizens are often kidnapped. The 10-year-old isn't the only member of the family who is being treated for a medical condition. The couple's 15-year-old son has a heart disorder known as Long QT syndrome, which causes irregular heartbeats and can be life-threatening if not properly treated. The mother told NBC News both children are unable to receive the health care they need in Mexico. In a post on X, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus called the family's deportation 'a new low' and said the Trump administration has 'lost all humanity.' Before Donald Trump took office, immigrant advocacy groups raised the alarm over how his mass deportation policies could affect mixed-status families (that is, families in which some members are undocumented while others are U.S. citizens). According to estimates from the American Immigration Council, as many as 4 million mixed-status families are at risk of being separated under Trump's policies. When Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, was asked in December how he would approach deporting mixed-status families, he told The Washington Post that the risk of separation was ultimately the fault of the parents. 'Here's the issue,' Homan said. 'You knew you were in the country illegally and chose to have a child. So you put your family in that position.' This article was originally published on
