Political Quotes

“I am very honored to stand with my distinguished colleague from Illinois on this vitally important issue. I thank him for his leadership, and I am very proud to work with him on a problem that really shows dramatically that neglect and disregard by government regulators and enforcers can have real-life consequences. The FDA has, very simply, failed to address this issue, and I believe it has failed even to respond to the alarms Senator Durbin and I have sounded on this issue. Yesterday the New York Times featured an article reporting that the Food and Drug Administration received 13 adverse-event reports of fatalities following the consumption of 5-Hour Energy, which is a highly caffeinated energy shot. But this report is really only the latest of a series of reports that two popular energy drinks--Monster Energy and 5-Hour Energy--have been cited in deaths and injury. These drinks have been cited in reports of dozens of serious adverse events such as heart attacks and convulsions. And these events are not the only concern that has been raised about energy drinks. I will cite a few. A report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found that the number of emergency room visits due to energy drinks increased tenfold between 2005 and 2009, from 1,128 to 13,114 visits. More recently, a study of energy drinks by Consumer Reports found that some energy drinks contain high levels of caffeine--in some cases, twice as much as a cup of coffee.…”