A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit against Prime Hydration and influencer Logan Paul, who founded the company.
The plaintiffs in the suit, a parent and her 10-year-old child, said marketing for Prime Energy fraudulently promoted the drink as healthy despite the beverage containing high levels of caffeine, the equivalent of almost six cans of Coca Cola.
The parent said her child experienced sudden mood swings and sleep issues after beginning to consume Prime Energy and that she never would have bought the drink for her child if she'd known about the drink’s side effects.
The marketing from Paul and fellow boxer Olajide Olayinka Williams Olatunji mainly targeted people aged 24 and under, who should not be drinking the beverage due to its caffeine levels, the suit stated. Plaintiffs cited U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warnings against children and adolescents consuming energy drinks with caffeine.
Prime Hydration, started in 2022, first sold a sports drink that has no sugar or caffeine before starting to offer Prime Energy in 2023. Prime Energy has 200 milligrams of caffeine but no sugar.
“At minimum, plaintiffs have failed to explain each defendant’s involvement in the alleged scheme,” Stivers wrote, adding later that while the complaint lists a few alleged misrepresentations by Paul and other defendants, “it does not attribute any to defendants or otherwise explain defendants’ involvement in the allegedly false or misleading advertising campaign.”
Plaintiffs also said that the promotion of the drink constituted a public nuisance, or interference with a right common to the general public, because of Prime Energy’s high caffeine content. But they only cited cases regarding a similar law in California, the judge said.
“In sum, nothing suggests that Kentucky courts have recognized public nuisance claims in this context, and the court declines to so extend Kentucky law,” he wrote.
Stivers dismissed the suit without prejudice, which gives plaintiffs an opportunity to file an updated complaint. They were given a deadline of Aug. 27.
Another lawsuit, which accuses Prime Hydration of false and deceptive marketing due to misrepresentation of levels of caffeine, is ongoing in New York.
That suit says that independent testing has shown Prime Energy contains more than 200 milligrams of caffeine.
A hearing is set in the case for Sept. 6.
