Disney sued for death caused by doctor’s allergy after meal at resort restaurant

The husband of a Long Island doctor who died of a severe allergic reaction after eating at a Disney World restaurant is suing the Walt Disney Company and the restaurant, saying his wife was fed allergens despite assurances that she was not would do.

The doctor, Kanokporn Tangsuan, died in October after dining with her husband, Jeffrey Piccolo, at the restaurant, the Raglan Road Irish Pub, in a section of the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, according to Mr. Piccolo. lawsuit, which was filed on February 22.

Dr. Tangsuan, 42, of Carle Place, NY, was a family medicine specialist affiliated with NYU Langone Hospital Long Island. According to the lawsuit, she and Mr. Piccolo were visiting Disney World with Mr. Piccolo’s mother when Dr. Tangsuan died.

Brian R. Denney, attorney for Mr. Piccolo, said in a statement that Dr. Tangsuan’s death was “completely preventable.” The couple, Mr. Denney said, “trusted that Disney’s Raglan Road would follow the proper protocols and deliver on their repeated commitments to serve food that was allergen-free.”

Questions sent to Disney and the restaurant seeking comment were not immediately answered.

As described in the lawsuit, the events leading up to Dr.’s death unfolded. Tangsuan conducted themselves as follows:

She, Mr Piccolo and Mr Piccolo’s mother went to the Raglan Road pub for dinner on October 5. Dr. Tangsuan was severely allergic to dairy and nuts, and she and her husband chose the restaurant because, based on advertisements in which Disney indicated that accommodating people with food allergies was a priority at its resorts, they believed there would be the necessary safeguards in place to protect people with such allergies.

When a waiter came to their table, the couple told him about Dr.’s food allergies. Tangsuan, said she needed allergen-free food and asked if several menu items contained allergens.

The waiter left to discuss with the chef whether certain foods could be made allergen free, returned to the table, said this was possible and guaranteed that Dr. Tangsuan would be served food that would be allergen-free.

The couple questioned the waiter a few more times to confirm that the food Dr. Tangsuan ordered it was allergen-free, and was “unequivocally” assured that it would be.

Based on that guarantee, Dr. Tangsuan onion rings and items labeled ‘Sure I’m Frittered’, ‘Scallop Forest’ and ‘This Shepherd Went Vegan’.

When the waiter returned with Dr. Tangsuan, some items did not have a flag stating that they were allergen-free. Dr. Tangsuan and Mr. Piccolo asked again about the presence of allergens, and the waiter again said that Dr. Tangsuan was allergen-free.

Dr. Tangsuan, Mr. Piccolo and Mr. Piccolo’s mother ate their meal. When they were done, the two women went shopping nearby, and Mr. Piccolo returned to their hotel with the leftovers from their meal.

About 45 minutes later, Dr. Tangsuan suffered a severe allergic reaction after entering the Planet Hollywood store. She developed severe breathing difficulties, collapsed to the floor and used an EpiPen. Someone soon called 911 and Dr. Tangsuan was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

An autopsy by the District 9 medical examiner’s office in Orlando, Florida, determined the cause of death was anaphylaxis, or a severe allergic reaction. The autopsy report mentions Dr. Tangsuan’s history of dairy and peanut allergies and said she had used an EpiPen before becoming unresponsive. The manner of death was accidental, the report said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in 2021 that 6.2 percent of U.S. adults age 18 and older had food allergies, although deaths from such allergies are rare. For example, according to a study published in The Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, there were 24 deaths from food allergies in New York City between 2000 and 2014, including four from peanuts.

Claire Fahy reporting contributed.