The sudden death of a teenage wrestler in Ohio has led to calls for greater oversight and attention paid to pure caffeine powders, which can be bought over the internet and are increasingly being used by teens in search of a rapid weight loss.
As repored by the Associated Press and Cleveland news network and fellow Gannett outlet WKYC, 18-year-old Logan Stiner, a senior wrestling star at Lagrange High in suburuban Cleveland, was found dead on May 27. Later medical examinations showed that he had consumed caffeine powder until he had a threshold more than 70 micrograms of caffeine per milliliter of his own blood, a satiation rate that is more than 23 times the caffeine contained in a single cup of coffee. While the full reasons for Stiner’s death wil not be revealed for some time to come, its believed that he may have taken the powdered caffeine in part to lose weight for wrestling matches.
“The difference between a safe amount and a lethal dose of caffeine in these powdered products is very small,” FDA spokeswoman Jennifer Dooren told the Associated Press.
While medical officials scramble to build up as much knowledge as they can gather about pure caffeine and its side effects, those back in Lagrange struggle to come to grips with a stunning loss of another teen in his prime, all while doctors remained stunned that caffeine powder was even a real product.
“I don’t think any of us really knew that this stuff was out there,” Keystone Local Schools superintendent Jay Arbaugh told the Associated Press.