An Ohio teenager's death just days before his graduation in May has been ruled to be a case of caffeine overdose, Huffington Post reported. Discovered to have toxic levels of caffeine in his body, ingestion of the powder had killed him through seizures and an irregular heartbeat, the Lorain County Coroner stated.
Logan Stiner, 18, was found lying dead on the floor of his home in LaGrange around 11 a.m. on May 27 by his brother. "He's on the ground passed out. I don't know how long he's been lying here," the brother said in a 911 call.
At first, Stiner's death was believed by authorities to have been due to natural causes, the Chronicle Telegram initially reported. Even though his mother, Kate Stiner, found bags of caffeine powder in the house, it wasn't until an autopsy was conducted that the powder was linked to Stiner's death
More than 70 micrograms of caffeine per milliliter of blood was found in Stiner's system, which is 20 micrograms more than what is considered to be a lethal dose, Dr. Stephen Evans, Lorain County Coroner, said.
Although it remains unclear why Stiner was taking the caffeine powder, keeping up his position of being a successful high school wrestler must have been a significant factor, with him mentioning to his mother about taking some sort of "pre-workout" substance, Newser reported. "I never thought it would hurt an 18-year-old child," resident Lora Balka told WKYC, adding that she hopes Stiner's death will encourage other youths to consume caffeine in a mindful manner.
"While caffeine powder is not sold in stores, it is available on the Internet and is stronger than traditional forms of the supplement," USA Today reported. "One teaspoon of the powder contains up to 1,600 milligrams of caffeine - about 70 cans of Red Bull. Comparably, energy drinks contain about 280 milligrams, and a 12-ounce Starbucks coffee contains 260 milligrams."
Shortly before his death, Stiner was chosen voted King of Keystone High School. He planned to study chemical engineering at the University of Toledo.
