Canada Pharmacy Shows: 3L Energy Drink + 1L Vodka = Taurine Overdose

Drinking mixed beverages with unknown ratio and proportion could be harmful and deadly.

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Canada drugstore alarms drinkers that different types of beverages when combined at no particular amount and proportion are as harmful as overdosing with Canada prescription drugs.  This is what happened to a 17-year-old German teen who drank a large amount of energy drink and vodka combo. 

The boy was diagnosed with acute kidney failure and was admitted to the hospital and was medicated with Canadian prescriptions for 10 days after the incident of drinking one liter of vodka mixed with three liters of energy drink. His reason for making and taking the beverage solution was to enhance his recent two 100-meter race performances in school.  But, rather of improved running abilities and speed, he suffered vomiting and dizziness, and was immediately rushed to the hospital.

"This is another classic case of teenage binge drinking and another warning for parents that . . . it can go to extremes and be fatal or near-fatal," said Cecile Marczinski, whose related research on alcohol's reaction with energy drinks was already published online and soon in the July 2011 print issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. "You have no idea how intoxicated you really are, so you drink far more than you would ever consume had you not combined them. This case is a perfect example of that."

According to Dr. Isabelle Schoffl, the boy consumed 380 grams of alcohol, 780 milligrams of caffeine and 4,600 milligrams of taurine in the four-liter mixture. Taurine is an amino acid that aids in regulating water and mineral salt levels in the blood. The taurine appeared to devastate his kidneys, requiring momentary dialysis treatments.

"I don't think he would have done 22 shots of vodka without the [influence of] the energy drinks," highlighted by Marczinski, also an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department at Northern Kentucky University.

Bruce Goldman, Director of Substance Abuse Services at Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, N.Y., mentioned that he believes the boy's huge alcohol intake caused bigger risk than the energy drinks; however, the mixture is even more hazardous.

"Bottom line, anything that makes it easier for kids or young people to consume large quantities of alcohol is very dangerous," Goldman stated. "To me, the danger is in the alcohol. The kids don't realize they're putting themselves at grave risk."

Article Tags: Energy Drink

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