Girl dies after pharmacist refuses to give EpiPen without prescription

Dublin, Ireland – A teenage girl died on the street after a pharmacy refused to hand over a life-saving adrenaline injection to the girl's mother because she didn't have a prescription.

Emma Sloan, 14, suffered an allergic reaction to peanuts after mistaking satay sauce for curry sauce at a Chinese restaurant in Dublin. She told her mother, Caroline, she was having difficulty breathing.

The family rushed round the corner to the Hamilton Long chemist shop but a male worker told Caroline they couldn’t give her an EpiPen shot - a special allergy injection - without a prescription. The worker advised Sloan to take her daughter to hospital but Emma collapsed on the street outside.

A passing doctor, as well as ambulance staff and firefighters, tried to resuscitate her but it was too late. The teenager died in front of her two sisters, one of them just 2 years old.

Sloan, 40, told the Irish Herald: "My daughter died on a street corner with a crowd around her. I'm so angry I was not given the EpiPen to inject her. I was told to bring Emma to an (emergency) department. Emma was allergic to nuts and was very careful. How could a peanut kill my child?”

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