Panera settles lawsuit wrongful death lawsuit with family of Pennsylvania college student

Panera has settled with the family of a University of Pennsylvania student with a heart condition who died after drinking a Charged Lemonade.

The family of Sarah Katz, 21, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in 2023. They claimed Panera failed to warn customers of ingredients in the drink or label it as an “energy drink.”

>>> Panera sued by family of 21-year-old with heart issue who died after drinking ‘Charged Lemonade’

Katz had a heart condition called long QT syndrome type 1 and avoided energy drinks at the recommendation of her doctors. She went into cardiac arrest at a Panera in September 2022 after drinking one of the lemonades, then died after suffering a second cardiac arrest. The lawsuit claimed Katz didn’t know how much caffeine was in the drink, because she wasn’t warned.

NBC News reports this is one of four lawsuits Panera is facing over the drinks, and is the first to be settled. One of those lawsuits involves a Pennsylvania teen who had one of the drinks in Monroeville, then went into cardiac arrest while at a movie theater. The teen, who survived, had no known health conditions before the incident.

>>> Teen went into cardiac arrest, resuscitated after drinking Panera’s Charged Lemonade: lawsuit

NBC says the Katz case was supposed to go to trial this month. Details of the settlement were not released.

Panera has since discontinued Charged Lemonades, citing a menu transformation.

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