ROOKE: 21-Year-Old College Student Had Her Whole Life Ahead Of Her — Until She Drank An Energy Drink

Jill and Michael Katz tragically lost their daughter, Sarah, at 21, and are turning her death into advocacy.

Sarah suffered from a heart condition, QT syndrome type 1, that required daily medication and avoidance of triggering substances to ensure her heart rate stayed low. Her parents believe that after drinking a 30-ounce “Charged Lemonade” she experienced cardiac arrhythmia that ultimately killed her.

“[Katz] was very, very vigilant about what she needed to do to keep herself safe. I guarantee if Sarah had known how much caffeine this was, she never would have touched it with a 10-foot pole,” her college roommate, Victoria Rose Conroy, told NBC.

The family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the restaurant chain, Panera Bread, for not making it clear that the drink contained 390 milligrams of caffeine. The complaint claimed that Panera marketed the drink as a “plant-based and clean” beverage “with as much caffeine as our Dark Roast coffee.” (Sign up for Mary Rooke’s weekly newsletter here!)

While Sarah’s doctors allowed her to have coffee, she avoided it just to be safe, according to her parents.

Panera’s 30-ounce Charged Lemonade reportedly had more than three times the 111 milligrams of caffeine found in a standard 12-ounce can of Red Bull.

Now her parents are looking to Congress to help make advertising and labeling changes to energy drinks to avoid this tragedy from happening to any other family, according to the New York Post.

The parents found an ally in Democratic New Jersey Rep. Robert Menendez.

Grateful to have Jill Katz and friends in DC leading a CPR training session.

After the loss of their daughter, Sarah Katz, Sarah’s parents have turned their grief into advocacy – working to prevent future tragedies by promoting CPR education and empowering others to save lives. pic.twitter.com/Pp3TAagklp

— Rep. Rob Menendez (@RepMenendez) March 20, 2026

Mendendez drafted the Sarah Katz Caffeine Safety Act, which requires clear caffeine-content labels on energy drinks and restaurant items containing more than 150 mg of caffeine, according to the NY Post.

“It’s just like disclosures for calories or if something contains peanuts,” Jill told the NY Post. “I don’t want to see in teeny, tiny black print whether it’s a bunny hill or a double black diamond that I’m about to go down.”

After a parent survives the death of their children, there are often two ways they grieve. Either they silently retreat to their lives, or they work to ensure they feel like justice is done. You can’t fault the Katzes for wanting to ensure no other parent has to bury their child over something that could have been avoided.

Energy drinks have got to be terrible for you. It’s synthetic caffeine mixed with chemicals and sugar. They’ve been banned in our house for the simple reason that no one needs that much caffeine, and if a cup of coffee isn’t enough to wake you up, then we need to figure out what your body is missing. (ROOKE: Man Whores Out His Pious Wife For Clout)

As the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) movement becomes more mainstream, I hope parents pay closer attention to what their children consume. But in the case of the Katzes, they couldn’t have been more vigilant.

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