COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Logan Stiner was just days from high school graduation when his brother found him unresponsive in their family’s home southwest of Cleveland in May 2014.
Stiner, 18, died of cardiac arrhythmia and seizure from acute caffeine toxicity, a coroner ruled. He had more than 70 micrograms of caffeine per milliliter of blood in his system -as much as 23 times the amount found in the system of a typical coffee or soda drinker.
What’s undisputed is that Stiner ingested powdered caffeine given to him by a friend who bought it on Amazon and was using it as a “pre-workout” boost.
The question is what, if any, liability Amazon had in Stiner’s death.
The Ohio Supreme Court plans Wednesday to hear arguments for and against a lawsuit brought by Stiner’s family arguing that the online retail giant, as the company that shipped the product, should be held responsible under Ohio product liability law. A decision isn’t expected for several weeks.