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Protein shakes must carry a ‘life-saving’ warning: UK official after teenager's death
A teenager boy Rohan Godhania, fell ill after drinking a protein shake in 2020. He died three days later after he suffered irreversible brain damage.
A senior British official has called for protein drinks sold in the markets to have ‘life-saving’ health warnings added in the product label after the death of a 16-year-old boy.
A teenager boy Rohan Godhania, from London, fell ill after drinking a protein shake on August 15, 2020. He died three days later at West Middlesex Hospital after he suffered 'irreversible brain damage', according to a report by Metro.
Soon after his death, his organs were donated before the hospital could identify the cause of his illness.
The boy's father Pushpa had bought the drink to help his son build muscle – as he was ‘quite skinny', the report added.
"He was quite skinny. We thought that rather than just nagging him, if he built up muscles in his shoulders he would stand a bit taller. Rohan had only just turned 16. We imagined Rohan developing into a wonderful young man," he said.
However, the spike in protein brought on a rare genetic condition called ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency, which triggered the breakdown of ammonia in Godhania's bloodstream and caused it to build to lethal levels.
A post-mortem examination could not initially identify the boy's cause of death as OTC, the inquest at Milton Keynes coroner’s court previously heard, the report added.
Coroner Tom Osborne while speaking to the news outlet said, "Concerning these protein drinks, my preliminary view about them is that I ought to write to one of the regulatory authorities that some sort of warning ought to be put on the packaging of these drinks because, although OTC is a rare condition, it can have harmful effects if someone drinks (one) and it causes a protein spike."
