The family of Larissa Nicole Rodriguez, a 17-year-old college-bound high school student from Weslaco, Texas, filed a wrongful death lawsuit on Wednesday in Hidalgo County District Court after her death in October. The suit names distributors Glazer’s Beer and Beverage and Glazer’s Beer and Beverage of Texas.
Attorney Benny Agosto Jr. said the Hidalgo County medical examiner determined Rodriguez’s cause of death was an enlarged heart due to stress and large amounts of caffeine. He said she had no pre-existing heart conditions or heart-related problems, and that testing found everything negative except caffeine. Agosto said Rodriguez drank Alani Nu energy drinks often, and the family is seeking more than $1 million in damages.
The case centers on what the family says were inadequate warnings around a drink that contains 200 mg of caffeine in a 12 fluid ounce can. The Food and Drug Administration recommends a daily maximum of 400 mg of caffeine for healthy adults, while Columbia University Irving Medical Center says children and teenagers ages 12 to 17 should have less than 100 mg per day. Rodriguez was described as a cheerleader and tennis player, and her family says the product was made available without adequate warning about the risks to young consumers.
Celsius Inc., which completed its $1.8 billion acquisition of Alani Nu in April 2025, is not a defendant in the lawsuit at this time. The company said Alani Nu energy drinks disclose 200 mg of caffeine on the can and state the product is not recommended for children, people sensitive to caffeine, pregnant women, or women who are nursing. It also said its products comply with federal labeling requirements and that it does not market or sample to anyone under 18.
That leaves the lawsuit focused for now on the distributors, though Agosto said more defendants could be added as discovery continues. He said they “receive it, distribute it and put it all over the place, and they also fail to give any warnings,” a point that will likely shape the next phase of the case as the family presses its claim that the warnings should have matched the product’s risks.
