Teenager, 14, who had allergic reaction to peanuts at Chinese buffet died in the street after chemist refused to give her a life-saving adrenaline injection

A 14-year-old girl died in the street after a pharmacy refused her a life-saving adrenaline injection when she suffered an allergic reaction to peanuts at a Chinese buffet.

Emma Sloan was denied an EpiPen shot - a special allergy injection - which by law, cannot be obtained from a chemist without a prescription, the Herald reported.

Ireland's Children's Minister Frances Fitzgerald last night called for an inquiry into the death.

It was reported on RTÉ that the pharmacy regulatory body, the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland, is examining the case.

The teenager told her mother that she became unable to breathe after eating satay sauce in a Chinese restaurant in Dublin, it was reported.

Caroline Sloan was said to have asked a nearby pharmacist for an EpiPen injection which would have released adrenaline to Emma, but the pharmacist said rules forbade them giving out the pen without a prescription.

Ms Sloan, from Drimnagh, Dublin, was about to take her daughter to Temple Street Hospital in the city but Emma died on the street surrounded by a crowd, according to reports. 

Ms Sloan told the Herald newspaper: ‘I’m so angry. I was not given the EpiPen. I was told to bring her to A&E.’

Ms Sloan, 40, said her daughter was a ‘beautiful, smart and funny girl – one of a kind.’

She appealed to parents of children with nut allergies to always carry an EpiPen.

‘I was told to bring Emma to an A&E department. Emma was allergic to nuts and was very careful. How could a peanut kill my child?’ she told the Herald.

The mother told how she and Emma, along with her other daughters Amy, 20, and Mia, 2, and Ms Sloan’s sister, Susan, had gone for dinner on Wednesday at 6.30pm.

The teenager, who had a nut allergy, ate satay sauce, which contains peanuts, but Ms Sloan said they had thought it was curry sauce. ‘It looked and smelled like curry sauce,’ she said.

‘I’m not blaming the restaurant because there was a sign reading 'nuts contained' but it wasn’t noticed. 

Moments after eating the sauce, Emma is said to have told her mother that she couldn't breathe.

Ms Sloan said they left the restaurant and went around the corner to a nearby chemist.

The heartbroken mother told the Herald that a worker at the pharmacy told her ‘I couldn’t get it without a prescription. He told me to bring her to A&E I left and I knew we’d have to run all the way to Temple Street Hospital.’

But just metres from the pharmacy the teenager collapsed on the ground and died on the pavement surrounded by onlookers.

A doctor, who was passing by, tried to assist, placing Emma into the recovery position but the rescue attempt was unsuccessful. 

Ambulance staff and firefighters also tried to aid in the recovery but Emma was not responsive. The teenager died in front of her toddler sister Mia.

‘My daughter Amy held Mia in her arms as Emma died,’ Ms Sloan said. ‘Mia saw her die.’

Ms Sloan had just bought her two tickets for the X Factor tour as a Christmas present. She had been a fan of teenage singer Luke Friend.

The mother described the fashion-conscious girl as ‘beautiful, smart and funny.’ ‘She wanted to be a make-up artist,’ Ms Sloan said. ‘Every day she’d have a different look.  She loved boys and music and make-up and clothes.

‘Emma was a very attractive girl and had modelled for her class recently at Our Lady of Mercy Secondary School in Drimnagh.

‘She was due to sit the Junior Cert in June.  She was a beautiful, smart and funny girl.  If I could sum her up in one sentence she was one of a kind.

‘I took down the Christmas tree this morning – I’ll never celebrate Christmas again.’

The pharmacy made no comment, saying it had been asked by the gardaí (Ireland's police force) not to make a statement. However pharmaceutical regulations do prohibit the sale of an EpiPen injection without a prescription.  

EpiPens are classed as S1B drugs, because they contain adrenaline with the potential to cause harm. This means they cannot be obtained without a prescription.

A staff member at Jimmy Chung’s restaurant said that a sign had been visible which read ‘Satay Sauce. Nuts contained.’

A statement from the restaurant manager Tony Shek read: ‘The staff are often asked by family members if foods contain nuts. But nothing was mentioned to any staff yesterday.’

A security man at Clarks Shoe store close to where the 14-year-old died, Mujahid Najeebhun told the Herald he had witnessed the moments after the girl collapsed. He said: ‘I saw the girl lying on the ground.  She was in the recovery position on the pavement. A woman was shouting “My daughter is dying. My daughter is dying.”

‘People saw the fire brigade at the traffic lights and they were shouting at them to hurry up.’