Published on 12, July, 2020
I saw a report from a coronors court on the news yesterday about an inquest on a 13 year girl who had died after being given a dairy milk hot chocolate instead of the soya one she'd asked for, she was seriously ill within minutes of having one mouthful and dead not long after. This drink was served in a franchise branch of a well known hight street coffee shop, who said that the training and awareness of allergies hadn't been followed in this case and they agreed with the coroners findings.
How long before people take allergies seriously? I think the owners and staff who served the young woman should be prosecuted for negligence manslaughter as I fear its the only way that allergies will be taken seriously. It's not a laugh, or a joke and it definately does matter when you're given something you're allergic too. So many people think allergy suferers are fussy, lying and attention seeking and if you don't tell them you've given them an allergen they won't know.
I wonder how many people at best spend the day itching or in the toilet because of being given an allergen by someone who's to arrogant to care, or end up in hospital, let alone the mortuary?
I think we really need a public awareness campaign about how serious allergies can be.
An article re increase of food allergies in children. https://theconversation.com/whats-behind-the-large-rise-in-food-allergies-among-children-in-the-uk-237803
It's just as bad for adults with allergies, especially if you have multiple ones as I do, people can get really angry with me, they think it's some kind of affectation or attention seeking. It' even worse tht doctors and hospitals can be among the worst for ignoring allergies, I've had spats with phlebotomists about latex gloves and I'm really allergic to latex, so much so that the same hospital had an absolute fit about how allergic I am and had to specially clean an operating theatre for me. They couldn't cope with my food allergies, they could just about cope with my not eating meat and fish, but they wern't happy, I Was served soup that had meat in, but said it was vegetable soup, they tried giving me cheese when I'm lactose intolerant and when I asked for vegan food, said you weren't allowed to be vegan unless ot was OK'd by a dietician which there was at least a two week wait for. I spent a week living on marmite on toast, I was lucky to get an Asian doctor who said that lots of people couldn't cope with the food and I needed to go home and eat my food and discharged me, I was so glad. It didn't help that I'd also been given a drug that I told them I was allergic too, they decided when I was unconcious that it was OK if I had it IV, it wasn't. I've had penecillin prescribed for me and numerous other drugs I'm allergic too under a different name because they thik it will be OK if I don't know what I'm taking.
Allergies are really life altering, I'm lucky I've never had amphylactic shock, but I've come close, it really changes things like going out for a meal, a coffee, a drink, even getting a takeaway. I think my allergies are more limiting that ASC.