I almost died from faulty allergy pen
Teacher’s fury as patients are not told about recall
A TEACHER nearly died when an allergy pen failed six weeks AFTER makers identified it as faulty.
Jacob Chouffot was rushed to hospital after his mum tried to inject him with an Emerade epinephrine pen as he lay stricken on the floor.
Medics gave him lifesaving adrenaline and he spent five hours in hospital.
Angry Jacob then found out new pens on pharmacists’ shelves were subject to a product recall at the end of November.
But because of a UK shortage of pens patients who already had them were not alerted. And the
MHRA – which regulates medicines – confirmed 26 similar incidents in the past six months.
Jacob, 21, said: “I came so close to death. I’d have found out if it was a faulty washing machine – they do press releases. I only found out because I searched for it. I’m worried it’ll happen again to somebody.”
The trainee teacher, from Henley, Oxon, was tucking in to a chicken jalfrezi when he was taken ill on
January 7. He did not realise it contained cashew nuts and collapsed. The Anaphylaxis Campaign said it has had a string of calls from patients unaware of the recall. It said patients with existing pens were being advised to carry two just in case.
Makers Bausch and Lomb said: “The company recalled all unexpired batches from wholesale and pharmacy.
“A decision has been made, in collaboration with the MHRA, that in view of the shortage of autoinjectors, Emerade devices should not be recalled at the patient level. We have notified the MHRA of all reported failures and will continue to do so.”
The alert comes after an inquest heard Londoner Shante TurayThomas, 18, did not receive proper training on her Emerade pen and a 111 call handler made mistakes. She died of a reaction to nuts.
Fault was found in Emerade pens