A New York physician died shortly after eating a non-allergen-free meal at a Disney World restaurant, according to a wrongful-death lawsuit.
On October 5, Dr. Kanokporn Tangsuan, a physician at NYU Langone Hospital, was having dinner at Raglan Road Irish Pub in the Disney Springs area of the park with her husband, Jeffrey Piccolo, and his mother.
The lawsuit — filed Thursday by Piccolo — says Tangsuan told their waiter she had severe allergies to dairy and nuts, seeking confirmation that various menu items could be served allergen-free. Court documents state that both Disney and Raglan Road advertise that they accommodate people with special food allergies.
The waiter reportedly confirmed with the chef that Tangsuan’s meal could be allergen-free. “The waiter assured them in no uncertain terms that the food would be allergen-free,” the lawsuit states, noting that Tangsuan ordered broccoli and corn fritters, scallops and onion rings.
“When the waiter returned with Kanokporn Tangsuan’s food, some of the items did not have allergen-free flags and Kanokporn Tangsuan and Jeffrey Piccolo again questioned the waiter who again assured him that the food delivered to Kanokporn Tangsuan was allergen-free,” the lawsuit states.
However, 45 minutes after Tangsuan ate her meal, she was alone at a nearby convenience store when she began having a severe allergic reaction to the food she had eaten and gave herself an EpiPen. She began having difficulty breathing and collapsed before 911 was called and she was taken to hospital.
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Tangsuan later died in hospital. The cause of her death was “as a result of anaphylaxis due to the elevated levels of dairy products and tree nuts in her body,” according to the lawsuit.
Piccolo is now seeking $50,000 in damages from the restaurant and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Inc. for wrongful death in Florida, along with mental pain and suffering, loss of income, and medical and funeral expenses.
The lawsuit alleges that Disney “failed to educate, train and/or instruct its employees” to “verify that food labeled as allergen-free or claimed to be allergen-free is actually allergen-free.”
Disney did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
“Jeff really wants to make sure this never happens to anyone else,” Piccolo’s attorney Brian Denney told Florida Politics. “It is very important to him that people are aware that people with such severe allergies should be taken seriously. And he doesn’t want that to happen to anyone else’s family.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education