A Rhode Island woman has filed a lawsuit against Panera Bread, alleging the restaurant chain’s highly caffeinated lemonade caused her to have “permanent cardiac injuries.”
Lauren Skerritt, 28, an occupational therapist, had been an athlete with no underlying health conditions who regularly competed in obstacle course races, according to the suit, which was first reported by NBC News. She now requires daily medication and has heart problems that have reduced her ability to work, exercise and socialize, says the complaint, which was filed Tuesday afternoon.
The complaint says that Skerritt drank two and a half Charged Lemonade drinks from a Panera cafe in Greenville, Rhode Island, on April 8, 2023, and then experienced palpitations.
The following day, the legal filing adds, Skerritt went to the emergency room, where tests showed that she had atrial fibrillation — an irregular heartbeat that can lead to a stroke, heart complications or other serious health problems.
Skerritt has since had “recurrent episodes of rapid heartbeat that occur suddenly and without pattern,” says the suit, which was filed in Delaware, where Panera is incorporated.
“Lauren continues to experience supraventricular tachycardia with associated shortness of breath, palpitations, brain fog, difficulty thinking and concentrating, body shakes, and weakness,” the suit says, noting that Skerritt and her husband have put plans to start a family on hold because “she will have a high-risk pregnancy and may have complications during the pregnancy.” Skerritt’s husband, Christopher Skerritt, is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit.
It’s at least the third lawsuit in recent months against Panera over its Charged Lemonade. The previous two — which were filed in October and December, months after Skerritt drank the beverage — blamed the lemonade for the deaths of an Ivy League student with a heart condition and a man in Florida who had a chromosomal deficiency disorder.
Panera did not…
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