Larissa Nicole Rodriguez was 17 years old, a cheerleader, tennis player, student council president, and honor student who had been accepted to nearly 20 universities. She wanted to study law at the University of Texas. She never drank alcohol. She never used drugs. The only thing found in her system when she died in October was caffeine.
Her family is now suing the distributor of Alani Nu energy drinks, after the Hidalgo County medical examiner ruled that Larissa’s cause of death was cardiomyopathy — an enlarged heart caused by excessive caffeine consumption. She had been drinking at least one can a day for about a year, sometimes more before school and during sports. Each can contains 200mg of caffeine — double the daily maximum recommended for teenagers by the American Academy of Pediatrics. She had no prior heart conditions and no family history of heart disease.
What makes this case especially striking is how she got hooked in the first place. Alani Nu is marketed aggressively to young women through social media influencers who present it as a wellness and lifestyle drink. Larissa eventually became one of those unofficial promoters herself, posting about it just like the influencers she followed. A classmate even asked her to homecoming with a note that read: “Hope you have the energy to go to hoco with me” — surrounded by pictures of Alani Nu cans. The brand had become that embedded in her world.
Alani Nu was recalled in Canada in 2023 for exceeding that country’s caffeine limits. It remains on shelves across the United States.
Larissa’s family says the lawsuit isn’t about the money. It’s about making sure no other parent has to bury a healthy teenager and wonder why nobody warned them.
