lynnawiensmd 8:35 am on June 29, 2012
Tags: Allergies ( 24 ), Allergy ( 64 ), Epinephrine, Epinephrine autoinjector, Food ( 16 ), Food allergy ( 20 ), Health ( 39 ), New York City

Have We Lost our CommonSense?

Schools are quite paranoid about giving any medication on their watch. The liability for giving sunscreen when you don’t need it? Zero. This is very similar to the use of epinephrine in a school aged child with food allergy. You certainly don’t want to withhold epi and risk anaphylaxis or death, when the risk of giving the EpiPen is negligible even if you don’t need the drug. Maybe our policies in schools will change after a large malpractice case gets media attention for NOT giving epinephrine at the appropriate time for peanut allergy.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/story/2012-06-27/sunscreen-policies/55877080/1

#allergies, #allergy, #epinephrine, #epinephrine-autoinjector, #food, #food-allergy, #health, #new-york-city

lynnawiensmd 8:22 am on June 27, 2012
Tags: Allergen ( 8 ), Allergies ( 24 ), Allergy ( 64 ), Epinephrine, Food ( 16 ), Food allergy ( 20 ), Health ( 39 ), USA Today ( 4 )

Are We Beating a Dead Horse?

Ok, another study about the dangers of food allergy (yesterday in USA Today). You would think the occurrence of food allergy to KNOWN allergens (peanut & milk) would decrease given all the attention given to accidental ingestion. Evidently, this is not the case. Explanations? Maybe we’re afraid of giving epinephrine. In my personal experience, giving epinephrine is analogous to “waving the white flag.” It doesn’t have to be nor should it be when treating children with suspected food allergy. As I tell my nurses, “give the epi, then call the doctor!”

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/story/2012-06-25/kids-food-allergies/55797696/1

#allergen, #allergies, #allergy, #epinephrine, #food, #food-allergy, #health, #usa-today