Northumbria University is set to be sentenced over a caffeine experiment that left students in intensive care. Two students from the Newcastle university needed several days of hospital treatment in 2015 after a sports science experiment into the effects of caffeine went wrong.
The pair from the uni’s Applied Sport and Exercise Science course accidentally overdosed on the stimulant in a study designed to measure how caffeine affects athletic performance, the Press Association reported. It was reported at the time that the students – who have not been named – consumed the caffeine in a drink.
The Health and Safety Executive prosecuted the institution at a hearing last month, where the uni admitted to failing to ensure student safety. Symptoms of caffeine overdose include heart palpitations, dizziness, diarrhea, and vomiting.
A spokeswoman for the university told the Mirror, a British newspaper in 2015: “It is a standard test that is delivered in most UK sports departments.” Northumbria University will be sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court at a date that has not yet been publicized.
This article was first published in the Huffington Post.