Woman's Death at Disney Restaurant Raises Questions

Social media users have raised a number of questions following reports that a doctor died after being served food at a Disney World restaurant that she allegedly was assured was allergen-free.

In a wrongful death lawsuit filed on Thursday, it is stated that New York City-based Dr. Kanokporn Tangsuan, a physician at NYU Langone Hospital, dined at the Raglan Road Irish Pub in the Florida theme park's Disney Springs complex with her husband, Jeffrey Piccolo, and his mother.

According to the lawsuit, which Piccolo filed, Tangsuan informed the waiter serving them that she was severely allergic to nuts and dairy, and sought confirmation that a range of items from the menu were free of allergens.

"The waiter unequivocally assured them that the food would be allergen free," part of the lawsuit reads. According to the documents, Tangsuan's food order consisted of broccoli and corn fritters, scallops and onion rings.

"When the waiter returned with Kanokporn Tangsuan's food, some of the items did not have allergen free flags in them and Kanokporn Tangsuan and Jeffrey Piccolo once again questioned the waiter who, once again, guaranteed the food being delivered to Kanokporn Tangsuan was allergen free," the lawsuit continues.

Despite these reassurances, states the suit, Tangsuan suffered a severe allergic reaction to the food 45 minutes later while she was in a nearby store by herself. She injected herself with her EpiPen to stave off the symptoms, but had difficulty breathing and collapsed, according to the documents.

Tangsuan was subsequently taken to the hospital, where she passed away. The lawsuit states that the physician's cause of death was ruled as "a result of anaphylaxis due to elevated levels of dairy and nut in her system."

The restaurant and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Inc. have been hit with a lawsuit seeking $50,000 pursuant to Florida's wrongful death act. The entities are also being sued for mental pain and suffering, loss of income and medical and funeral expenses. It was noted in the lawsuit that Disney and the restaurant advertise that they accommodate those who have food allergies.

Disney has been accused in the lawsuit of failing to "educate, train and/or instruct its employees" to ensure "food indicated as allergen free or requested to be made allergen free, was in fact free of allergens."

Newsweek has contacted representatives of Disney and the Raglan Road Irish Pub via email for comment.

When People shared the news on its Instagram account, a host of the platform's users shared their reactions, while others spoke of their own experiences.

"This is shocking to read," said one. "My son has severe food allergies and I've never experienced any food establishment take food allergies as serious as Disney. If you communicate it with them, they'll have a chef come out to speak to you directly, and then said chef prepares and serves the food to you directly, so as to not risk anything.

"I wouldn't trust the busy quick order places [because] too much can go wrong, however we've always raved about the sit down restaurants. This is really tragic to read. My heart goes out to this family. Living with severe food allergies is literally a quest to stay safe and alive each day."

"Surprising," said another. "Disney is [highly] aware of food allergies and has always been impeccable with my family and life threatening allergies. Heartbreaking for the family."

Echoing that sentiment, another said that when they visited a Disney resort and declared their allergies, the team was "overly cautious and double and triple checked the food before giving it to me. Also anaphylaxis is way faster than 45 [minutes]."

Countering the comments that questioned the timing of Tangsuan's illness after eating her meal, another said: "Anaphylactic reactions can occur within that aforementioned 4 hour time frame. Not only that you can have a bad reaction at the time but then have an anaphylactic reaction a few hours later. As someone with multiple food allergies I have experienced this way too often."

However, others were stating that the dining experience has not always been perfect for them. "I was on property at an upscale Disney restaurant and let it be known I'm vegan and ordered a vegan entree from their menu—that came with meat in it that I didn't initially recognize until I ate it," read one comment. "Thank God I'm not allergic but Disney does mess up. It's such a shame that this happened. My deepest condolences."

Another suggested that restaurant staffers have too big of a responsibility when it comes to potentially fatal food allergies.

"They are just food workers," said an Instagram user. "They shouldn't have people's lives in their hands. What [if] it was the server, something on the silverware? I would not let my loved on with fatal allergies eat out. And I'm sure when they advertised they accommodate food allergies, I doubt they were thinking fatal ones. This is devastating. I do not think the restaurant should be liable."

Others expressed a requirement for more thorough training on the matter, including one who wrote: "There needs to be more awareness about food allergies, [especially] in restaurant businesses and schools. Well really anywhere that they serve food to customers."