Nightclub took DDs epipens

[anaphyl4xis]

My DD - 18 and a 1st year uni student - went to a nightclub last night and they refused to let her keep her epipens on her. They said if she needed them
She had to go to the medical room.

She was with a group of friends and had all paid to get in and the venue also refused to refund if they decided not to go in.

AIBU to be absolutely livid and to follow this up with the company.

For context my daughter has a life threatening allergy to nuts - but not peanuts.

Schools shouldn't do that either. Emergency meds are kept on the person.

It has nothing to do with an adult's boundaries and everything to do with making things safer for everyone.

I want OP to cause a fuss so that when it's my kid that needs their epipen, they have it. If you had a kid who could die in minutes at any time, you'd want that too, trust me.

I would not only complain to the nightclub about this, I would also go to the press, the council, my local MP, the licensing board and anyone else I thought pertinent to this issue. Don’t let this drop, it’s outrageous they confiscated your daughters potentially lifesaving essential medical equipment.
You are NOT over-reacting. If anything, you’re under-reacting.

Argh - quote fail. A pp referred to the Epipen as a medical device. It isn’t - it’s a medicine and I’m not at all sure that the paramedic (even assuming that they were a real paramedic) is legally permitted to take possession of a prescription only medicine under these circumstances.

Also, a genuine paramedic who knows what they are doing should easily be able to recognise a genuine un-tampered with adrenaline autoinjector. They surely aren’t concerned with mis-use of a real adrenaline autoinjector? And as others have said, autoinjectors aren’t stealthy.

This is an obviously dangerous policy. What's to guarantee that the medical room will be open with the right people around at the moment somebody needs it.

Adults should be able to be in charge of their own lifesaving medication at all times.

Anaphylaxis can kill you in 15 minutes, or less. In a big, packed club, in a panic as you slide into an extreme reaction, while potentially addled from the reaction and/or alcohol, finding your way to a discrete medical room could easily take that or longer. Asking anyone for help would be nigh-on impossible, they either won’t hear you or assume you’re pissed.

Complain. You cannot separate someone from a life-saving medics device.

Those who are minimising this must be lucky enough to never have had to worry that a common food item could kill their child. The OP will likely have spent years trying to ensure her daughter’s safety and that won’t just switch off now that her daughter is 18.

OP, please take this as high up as possible and contact your MP.

There have been a number of anaphylaxis deaths in the news recently (Shiv Mistry, Omar Osman, Jess Prinsloo and Alyssa West are tragic examples) and it is simply unacceptable to remove someone’s life saving medicine.

Would the club deem it acceptable to remove someone’s insulin or asthma inhaler?

This is a rare time I actually hope the press pick up a Mumsnet thread.

Huge thanks to everyone who has commented - even those who have tried to make it about my parenting 😁 - some really great information and my plan is to try to talk to the club manager and the parent company (they're a large ltd company not a small independent club) and get their approach changed.

My DD is happy for me to take it forward - she spoke to the club manager last night and he was less than helpful and clearly has no clue about anaphylaxis and the speed at which a reaction occurs. Her epipens were stored in an unlocked room in the front of his own bag with no labelling or name on them. When she left he was nowhere to be found so she just went in and took them. Tells you what would have happened had she had a reaction.

Her epipens were stored in an unlocked room in the front of his own bag with no labelling or name on them. When she left he was nowhere to be found so she just went in and took them.

That’s outrageous!

And for those of you who know and love people with a life threatening allergy please be reassured that I won't be fobbed off and will make as much fuss as is necessary. But I don't want to go straight to nuclear.

It really is - there is more that I won't bore everyone with but it is very clear that this isn't a formal well thought out policy with medical knowledge applied it's a local knee jerk that will put people with these conditions at real risk.

It is online in The Mirror:

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/mum-claims-nightclub-refused-daughter-29371884.amp

As evidenced by the link upthread to the story about that poor little boy who died at school because they couldn’t find his epipen.

It doesn't work like that.

I use an autoinjector for different medication (on my third type, by the way).

The refillable autoinjectors look nothing like Epipens, which, like Jext and Emercade, have absolutely massive, low gauge needles precisely because anything higher gauge is unable to penetrate clothing and then the skin. But AIs with replaceable cartridges for other medications don't have low gauge needles - they have higher gauge ones which are then unable to penetrate clothing.

Oh, and the mechanism of injection takes around ten seconds. Which is plenty long enough for you to know all about it. So, assuming that you haven't noticed somebody removing your clothing, getting the injector out, pressing it against your skin firmly, triggering the release mechanism (more pressure), holding it against you forcefully and restraining you so that you don't immediately move away from it before anything's got into your system and staying there for ten seconds before moving away again - and only noticing 'a prick' rather than 'I've just been punched and stung by a fucking wasp after being held still for ten seconds'?

As a HCP who has had to treat a few anaphylaxis patients in my time I am utterly appalled at the night club. On two occasions I have had patients who reacted so quickly they could not of got to a medical room in a night club. One went down on the walk to my consulting room and the other collapsed in the car . Both times they survived but only because I had epi pens in our crash kit at hand. If I had not of had them it may well have been different outcomes for both, both went from talking to collapse within a minute.

A friend was asked to hand over an insulin pen in similar circumstances and refused entry when she refused. Clear disability discrimination and proves that the Equality Act isn’t being properly adhered to, or policed.

@bonjello do you have a child/teen with anaphylaxis? Eating out with a a life threatening allergy can be exhausting. No matter how ‘on it’ you are.

Fucking hell.

In his own bag?? I wanted you to complain anyway but now, take them to the cleaners. Imagine if the stupid twat had locked the room and something happened. It really doesn’t bear thinking about.

I went to a event at a arena recently and they actually tried to confiscate my epi pens, it was only when a paramedic came over I was allowed to take them in with me. I don't just have food allergies but spontaneous anaphylaxis so no warning it just happens, paramedic was horrified they were trying to take them off me. I pointed out to the staff if they took them I could be dead before I got help

@anaphyl4xis best option is to contact one of the leading anaphylaxis/allergy charities

They are likely to investigate if they think it's discriminatory or likely to put people at risk and means your daughter doesn't need to complain directly herself.

FWIW I'm outraged on your daughter's behalf - a club can't decide to change a policy designed to keep people safe just because there has been an increase in injectable spiking. They need to take proper guidance from people who know what they are doing.

From my uninformed perspective - surely if you're keeping a log of names (checked against IDs) of who's bringing injectables in, this should be enough of a deterrent against people using them nefariously.

So she walked into an unlocked medical room/office and took her own medicine back.
What was doing someone else going on there and stealing her medication? What if someone stopped her or accused her of stealing? What if the manager had an emergency at home and had to leave quickly?
Honestly this club sounds like a disaster.
Please if you can update us on this as it's all very Draconian.
And my son is 33 and I will always advocate on his behalf especially in life threatening situations.

Edit: what if someone went into the room and stole her medication.

If you don’t get any joy I’d bring in the council’s licensing authority in and make them aware.

One of my, adult, children is involved in one. They’ve leant on clubs and pubs where things aren’t right.

Which university town is this?

Sue the club for breaking the law The Equality Act clearly states that an organisation has to make reasonable adjustments to enable someone with a disability to be as safe as someone without. Someone without a life threatening allergy is made safer in the club without a needle on them. For someone with anaphylaxis, they need that needle in order to be as safe as the other person. To deny their safety is treating their life as less important as a non-disabled person's.