Girl, 14, died of allergic reaction to nuts ‘after being refused Epipen in pharmacy’
A TEENAGER died of an allergic reaction to nuts after she was allegedly denied an Epipen at a pharmacy.
Emma Sloan, 14, had an anaphylactic shock after accidentally eating a sauce containing nuts while dining at a Chinese restaurant in Dublin city centre.
Her mum Caroline dashed to nearby Hamilton Long Allcare Pharmacy in search of a lifesaving adrenaline injector - but was allegedly refused one as Emma did not have a prescription.
The teen later died of an anaphylactic shock.
More than seven years after the tragedy on December 18, 2013, Emma's mum Caroline has this week settled a legal action for €50,000 (£43,000).
Ms Sloan had sued pharmacist David Murphy and the O’Connell Street pharmacy following her young daughter's death.
In the High Court on Monday, Ms Sloan’s counsel Gordon Walsh BL said the €50,000 settlement was without an admission of liability.
Approving it, Justice Garrett Simons said as Emma was only 14, there was no claim for loss of earnings and the full value of the settlement was achieved.
He also noted a full defence had been filed in the action from both defendants.
The settlement includes special damages and the statutory amount, a solatium - in this case just over €21,000 (£18,000)
A solatium is paid to the dependants of a deceased person for mental distress in fatal personal injuries action and is intended to be an acknowledgement of the grief and upset suffered.
In an affidavit to the court, Ms Sloan said she along with Emma, her two sisters and aunt, were eating a Chinese restaurant which at the time was on Eden Quay, Dublin.
She said they had a buffet-style dinner and that “tragically Emma consumed a nut sauce by mistake called satay.”
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In 2015, a charge of poor professional performance against pharmacist David Murphy was struck out.
The fitness to practise committee of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland acceded to a request by lawyers for Mr Murphy that he had no case to answer.
It had been alleged he failed to respond adequately when declining to give Emma’s mother an Epipen because she did not have a prescription for her daughter.