Doctor who died of allergic reaction at Disney Springs

[Anonymous]

$50k in a wrongful death suit seems low for a doctor

[Anonymous]

Disney proper is militant about allergies.

Seems like the restaurants at Disney Springs aren’t.

[Anonymous]

My child was exposed to a nut allergen at Disney even after I did due diligence. It was a specialty holiday dessert brought in from an outside company at the bakery in Epcot France; I had asked and looked at the binder with ingredients listed. There were layers and each layer had a multitude of ingredients listed. At the bottom of the page where all the major allergens were listed it didn’t say anything about nuts. DC first ate a bite of the dessert we were sharing, then I took a bite a couple of minutes later and tasted hazelnuts. Scariest moment of my life. I immediately gave him double dose benedryl and ran back to the binder where I found hazelnuts hidden in the multitude of ingredients and confirmed it wasn’t at the bottom of the page. Thankfully my child’s reaction never went any further even though hazelnuts are listed on the allergy sheet from the allergist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There’s something off about this story. Did they ever figure out what the contaminated food was? Why would you put your life in the hands of someone making minimum wage as a waiter? I agree with the PP who said there’s no way of determining it was from the restaurant specifically.

With all the tipping going on we should expect more from these people, if not, stop tipping

[Anonymous]

Disney has a reputation in the food allergy community of being good at handling food allergies and having a strict protocol. But I think Raglan Road is an independent restaurant at Disney Springs, so it may not have the same systems in place.

I had something similar happen at a fancy restaurant in DC during a work lunch. A colleague specifically told the waiter that he had a life threatening egg allergy and asked the waiter to confirm directly with the chef that his salad and dressing were egg free. The waiter checked and confirmed. He asked again when the food was served. Confirmed again. A few minutes into the meal, after he'd had 4-5 bites, the waiter came and told him that the dressing contained egg as a thickener. He immediately got up and called an Uber to go to the hospital where he was treated overnight. He'd had to use the EpiPen in the Uber. I don't think there was any way my colleague could have been more clear that his allergy was extremely severe. The restaurant staff just sucked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really sad. With a diary allergy that severe it’s really not safe to eat out at all.

It really is so sad. And I imagine it must be really tough for people with these allergies to walk that line between staying safe, and living a normal life! Poor woman just wanted to enjoy her evening with her family.

You are right that (I assume) she’d still be here had she prepared her dinner herself. But it does bring up an interesting point - IF (big if) the food was contaminated / the breading had nuts or dairy, it does seem like there should be liability here. I know the server is probably young and clueless and not making much money, but if that’s how it went down, that server basically killed her when he/she confirmed to her that the food was nut / dairy free.

I’m sure the assurance was coming from the kitchen. I doubt the server just unilaterally reassured them that everything was fine.

My ds is a waiter. He just had someone with a serious shellfish allergy the other day. He is only 17 and was very nervous about it, told the kitchen, asked again, it was fine...But there are two cooks, there is a food expediter, a wide variety of meals being made in a small space at a fast pace, and for an allergy like dairy it may not be as clear what contains dairy and what doesn't...I personally think it is way too risky to trust a restaurant and personnel with such a huge responsibility and so many variables.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How are they going to prove it was something she ate in the restaurant or something she came in contact with later? If you're that allergic you buy food and stay at a place with a kitchen. Disney will pay out. I know because I used to work for them.

The article I read stated the dh brought leftovers to the hotel room, so they might have tested that? If not there is a big time gap so harder to prove since she was walking around for a while after dinner. Or maybe there was an autopsy after.

[Anonymous]

My child has had a second reaction that occurred almost 12 hours later. Scary.

I would guess either the batter for the fried items contained milk or there was cross contamination in perhaps using the same oil to fry other items containing milk or nuts. Or, the oil they used was peanut oil. I know they say that highly refined peanut oil has the peanut protein removed but who knows if the oil was actually highly refined.

I am very sorry. As someone above said, it’s hard to walk a line between fear and living your life.

[Anonymous]

I can have an allergic reaction anywhere between 15 minutes to hours later. A 45-minute delay is completely within the normal range.

[Anonymous]

This is really sad and scary.

My child has gluten allergy. We went to Cheesecake Factory once and ordered the GF pasta, verified twice with the waitress that it was GF. After taking two bites, DC started to have reaction and vomited on the way to the bathroom. Thankfully he was okay after that. But the restaurant denied that there's any possibility of cross contamination, which was infuriating because the reaction was right there, on their premise! I've since read many similar stories about Cheesecake Factory--they don't take food allergies very seriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What a terrible tragedy.

It's a bummer, but it doesn't meet definition of a tragedy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What a terrible tragedy.

It's a bummer, but it doesn't meet definition of a tragedy.

DP. I would categorize unexpected death on vacation as a tragedy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is really sad and scary.

My child has gluten allergy. We went to Cheesecake Factory once and ordered the GF pasta, verified twice with the waitress that it was GF. After taking two bites, DC started to have reaction and vomited on the way to the bathroom. Thankfully he was okay after that. But the restaurant denied that there's any possibility of cross contamination, which was infuriating because the reaction was right there, on their premise! I've since read many similar stories about Cheesecake Factory--they don't take food allergies very seriously.

They have a HUGE menu. I think it's more difficult for places who serve so much in such volumes to keep track. I am surprised more places don't say they can't accommodate allergies because it is such a huge responsibility.

[Anonymous]

That’s absolutely tragic. Not only that they confirm it was allergy free but when the food arrived unmarked they double checked and were assured it was. Poor thing died alone and I hope her family gets some justice. That was an unnecessary death.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is really sad and scary.

My child has gluten allergy. We went to Cheesecake Factory once and ordered the GF pasta, verified twice with the waitress that it was GF. After taking two bites, DC started to have reaction and vomited on the way to the bathroom. Thankfully he was okay after that. But the restaurant denied that there's any possibility of cross contamination, which was infuriating because the reaction was right there, on their premise! I've since read many similar stories about Cheesecake Factory--they don't take food allergies very seriously.

They have a HUGE menu. I think it's more difficult for places who serve so much in such volumes to keep track. I am surprised more places don't say they can't accommodate allergies because it is such a huge responsibility.

They have a limited children's menu and on that menu they specifically indicated GF pasta. When a restaurant put something as free of an allergen in print on their menu, people tend to trust that over other choices.