14-year-old Emma Sloan died on the streets of Dublin in December 2013 after ingesting a sauce containing peanuts at a local restaurant.
Emma, who had a known peanut allergy, was having dinner with her family at Jimmy Chung’s Chinese buffet in Dublin’s Eden Quay.
Mistaking satay sauce for curry sauce, Emma began suffering symptoms of anaphylaxis repeatedly saying: “I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.”
Neither Emma nor her mother, Caroline Sloan, were carrying Emma’s prescribed epinephrine auto-injectors at the time. Ms Sloan, realizing her daughter was suffering anaphylaxis, ran to a local pharmacy to obtain an auto-injector but was allegedly refused by the pharmacist because she did not have a prescription with her.
She was told to take her daughter to a nearby hospital for treatment, but while the two were underway by foot, Emma collapsed. Despite the efforts of a passing doctor, EMTs and firefighters, Emma died on the sidewalk.
Ms Sloan subsequently sued the pharmacist, David Murphy, and the Hamilton Long Allcare Pharmacy for not providing the epinephrine, a decision which may well have resulted in Emma’s death.
In High Court on Monday, a €50,000 ($60,700) settlement agreed upon without an admission of liability by the defendants.
Justice Garrett Simons said that since the deceased was only 14 years of age, there could be no claim for loss of earnings and the full value of the settlement was achieved.
The settlement includes special damages and the statutory amount to compensate for pain and suffering, in this case just over €21,000.
14 Year Old Girl, Denied Epinephrine, Dies from Peanut Ingestion
