Last fall, the Food and Drug Administration confirmed that it has received five reports of people dying after drinking caffeinated energy drinks, including a 14 year-old Maryland girl. The agency says there's no proof that the drinks caused the deaths, but it's now investigating energy-drink safety. And the Federal Trade Commission is looking into the manufacturers' marketing, which, among other things, claims the drinks improve energy and concentration.

The new numbers on emergency-department visits come from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which tracks drug-related ER visits. They found that energy-drink related visits rose from 10,068 in 2007 to 20,782 in 2011. That's out of more than 1 million drug-related ER visits, the agency says. Before 2007, energy drink incidents were too few to report, the paper says.

About 60 percent of the people were seeking help with adverse reactions to the energy drink alone, while 27 percent had also taken prescription drugs. Another 13 percent had downed energy drinks and alcohol, while 10 percent had combined energy drinks and illegal drugs. Teenagers and young adults were most likely to end up in the ER.

The facepalm stat: Nine percent of the unfortunates had combined energy drinks with prescription stimulants like Ritalin, giving them a double dose of chemical buzz.

The SAMHSA study doesn't prove that the drinks caused the health problems, but tracks with other studies that have found health problems with energy drinks. People who combine energy drinks with alcohol are more likely to get drunk, and drive drunk, according to a 2010 study.

The SAMHSA report prompted three congressmen to renew their call for companies to fully disclose energy-drink ingredients, and provide evidence to support marketing claims.

"There is very clearly a lack of understanding about the health effects of energy drinks and their ingredients especially on children and adolescents," Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said in a statement.

And last Thursday, Chicago Alderman Edward Burke proposed a citywide ban on sales of energy drinks. "Chicago ought to be on the forefront of public awareness and education about the potential dangers of these products," he told a local TV station. No word on whether the rest of the city council backs the notion of a buzz-free Windy City.

Copyright 2013 National Public Radio.

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