Californian claims losing part of his skull due to excessive energy drinks, but story unverified

A claim went viral in 2017 that a California man lost part of his skull due to excessively drinking energy drinks.

In a 2017 Facebook post, a woman named Brianna said her husband Austin suffered a near-fatal brain hemorrhage caused by habitually consuming energy drinks while managing long work hours.

"After ruling out drug usage via toxicology screening, doctors identified excessive energy drink consumption as the likely cause," Brianna wrote in the now-deleted post quoted by history-sharing account Historic Vids in a tweet on Wednesday, August 16.

However, the story has been doubted by medical experts, who say such an outcome from just energy drinks is unlikely.

No verification of Austin's alleged diagnosis or doctors linking it to energy drinks has publicly emerged.

While caffeine can temporarily raise blood pressure, studies show conflicting conclusions about whether it directly causes hemorrhages.

"A hemorrhage caused by an energy drink is plausible but unlikely, and if a connection between the two were present at all, it would be poorly understood," fact-checking site Snopes.com reported after investigating the viral claim in 2017.

Read the full report of the fact-check here:
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/energy-drink-results-in-hole-in-expectant-fathers-skull/