Friday, October 06, 2006
Near-death experience
My older son nearly died this week, all from an unlabeled peanut butter cookie. We've known of his peanut allergy since he was an infant and thought we had it pretty well in hand. But one taste of an unmarked cookie from his school cafeteria sent him into critical anaphylactic shock and required him to be helicoptered to a critical care unit in Boston. Thankfully he survived. But I can't help but worry about the risk both my sons face for the rest of their lives. Nor can I help but think of the kids and the parents of the kids who were not so lucky.As someone whose children have been allergic to peanuts their entire lives, I should be better informed about this than I am. And as a lawyer, I should better understand legal and legislative efforts to protect those with peanut and other food allergies. Scariest about peanuts is how invisibly pervasive they are, used as additives and thickening agents in a host of foods from pasta sauce to egg rolls.
Just some quick research on legal issues around peanut allergies finds that lawyers and policy makers could play a substantial role in preventing what happened to my son.
- Most shocking to me is that there is a drug, TNX-901, that could protect those with peanut allergies from precisely the type of exposure my son suffered. But lawyers and legal wrangling are keeping that drug from the public. See these articles in The New York Times and Business Week.
- It appears that policymakers in a handful of states have set guidelines -- voluntary for the most part -- on how schools should deal with life-threatening food allergies, but they've fallen short of regulating this in any meaningful way. This is more complex than the simple question of whether to make schools peanut free. Should we require schools to label foods in their cafeterias? To provide peanut-free tables or areas? To allow students to carry and self-administer epinephrine pens?
Lawyers have a critical role to play here. They can help bring about laws, regulations and policies to protect the lives of children with food allergies. We can require clearer labeling. We can support -- rather than block -- scientific research. We can push for accountability and education. We can't cure these allergies, but we can help prevent needless, life-threatening situations such as the one that almost killed my son this week.
posted by Robert Ambrogi @ 3:16 PM,
4 Comments:
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At 11:44 AM,
said...
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Might I suggest a copy of The Peanut Allergy Answer Book (2nd edition) by Dr. Michael C. Young. It contains alot of useful and practical information.
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At 4:03 PM,
said...
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I'm interested to see what kind of "legislative efforts to protect those with peanut and other food allergies" you would have liked to have seen at your son's school...
I'm split on this - part of me agrees that there should be accurate labeling, etc. but the other half of me asks "legislating peanut labeling???" -
At 5:45 PM,
Robert Ambrogi said...
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As it turns out, there is federal legislation regarding such labeling, the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act.
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At 3:52 PM,
AllergyKids said...
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Robert-
We are working with some global corporations on this issue, as well as some key legislators.
As seen on CNN, the goal of AllergyKids is to create universal awareness of life threatening food allergies in order to prevent accidental allergic reactions.
We have a lot of insight into exactly the questions that you have asked.
If we can assist in any way, please do not hesitate to contact us at 1.800.671.1525 or through our website at www.allergykids.com
With hope for the cure,
Robyn O'Brien
Founder, AllergyKids
