2024 – Another tragic peanut anaphylaxis death …. Hannah Glass kept alive after a deadly anaphylactic reaction so that her organs could be donated.
NY Post story here: 19-year-old Wis. college student with peanut allergy dies after eating gluten-free brownie: ‘She was completely unresponsive’
GiveSendGo fundraiser Remembering Hannah Glass
Via e-mail to ehoskins.mpp@liberal.ola.org
July 17, 2016
Dr. Eric Hoskins
Minister of Health and Long-Term Care
10th Floor, Hepburn Block
80 Grosvenor Street
Toronto, Ontario M7A 2C4
Persons with anaphylaxis encouraged to become organ donors at Service Ontario
Dear Dr. Hoskins,
My son, upon returning from a Service Ontario office regarding his OHIP coverage, showed me a form showing “I have agreed to donate any organ or tissue needed for transplant, or for medical research if they cannot be used for transplant.” I would not have thought twice about this had it not been for the fact that my son has life threatening food allergies. I won’t list all of the medical journal articles showing the dangers of anaphylactic donors causing anaphylaxis in
transplant recipients but here are a few:
Transfer of peanut allergy from the donor to a lung transplant recipient – “This case emphasizes the importance of considering donor allergy transfer when caring for all solid-organ transplant recipients in order to avoid a life-threatening event.”
A lurking threat: transfer of peanut allergy through peripheral blood stem cell transplantation
Transfer of Symptomatic Peanut Allergy to the Recipient of a Combined Liver-And-Kidney Transplant
New developments in transplant-acquired allergies
As you can see from the above cases, for patients to have fully informed consent regarding their transplant, they should be advised if the donor does have life threatening allergies. The Sick Kids Foundation is reporting that there are 300,000 [update 2024, now 500,000] children in Canada with anaphylaxis. As far as I know numbers of adults (including my son) are unknown.
My son (now 22) is one of the first wave of children who received the 5 in 1 combination vaccinations or 5 doses concurrently that included Haemophilus Influenza type B (conjugate) as an infant. He is anaphylactic to numerous foods including peanuts, nuts, eggs, milk, sesame and has reacted severely to latex in the past after orthodontic treatment. Please see my website www.deadlyallergy.com/science to view the medical journal links between vaccination and developing anaphylaxis to foods. Are the 300,000 children [update 2024, now 500,000] in this country with anaphylaxis on any government’s radar? If not, they should be.
I look forward to your reply – What is the Ontario government going to do to protect transplant recipients from developing life threatening allergies after transplantation from an anaphylactic donor?
Sincerely,
Rita Hoffman
c.c. Dr. Jane Philpott, Minister of Health, Canada
Dr. Richard Schabas
Todd Smith, MPP
| Subject: | Requests for organ donation from persons who are anaphylaxis by Service Ontario – MECS #:16-008164-368 |
|---|---|
| Date: | Fri, 7 Oct 2016 13:21:11 -0400 |
| From: | BGTD.OPIC <BGTD.OPIC@hc-sc.gc.ca> |
| To: | RH |
Dear Ms. Hoffman:
Thank you for your correspondence of July 17, 2016, concerning the safety of organs for transplantation from donors with anaphylaxis.
Canada has one of the safest organ transplantation systems in the world thanks to its comprehensive regulatory oversight of the screening and testing of donors. The Safety of Human Cells, Tissues, and Organs for Transplantation Regulations address the safety in the processing and handling of cells, tissues, and organs thereby resulting in the improved protection of the health and safety of Canadian transplant recipients.
You will be pleased to know that under the Regulations, there is a requirement to screen organ and stem cell donors for any allergies. If their donor’s history of allergies is considered clinically significant, for example, information on the presence of a life-threatening allergy, this information must then be communicated to the transplant program. The physician would then alert the recipient to avoid the allergen(s) in question or seek appropriate testing.
I hope this information allays the concerns you expressed for the well-being of potential transplant recipients. If you have any other questions regarding the safety of organs for transplantation, please do not hesitate to contact Health Canada officials at BGTD.OPIC@hc-sc.gc.ca.
Again, thank you for writing.
Office of Policy and International Collaboration | Bureau de la politique et de la collaboration internationale
Biologics and Genetic Therapies Directorate | Direction des produits biologiques et des thérapies génétiques
Health Products and Food Branch | Direction générale des produits de santé et des aliments
Health Canada | Santé Canada
Tunney’s Pasture | Pré Tunney, Ottawa K1A 0T6
Mail stop | Localisateur: 0601A
bgtd.opic@hc-sc.gc.ca | dpbtg.bpci@hc-sc.gc.ca