A nationwide shortage of life-saving EpiPens is linked to the death of schoolgirl with a severe dairy allergy who died after drinking one sip of a Costa Coffee hot chocolate.
Earlier this month, a coroner concluded that Hannah Jacobs, 13, died due to failure by staff at the coffee shop chain to follow allergy safety procedures.
Hannah asked for soya milk in her drink, but real milk was used instead. Her mother Abimbola Duyile accused Costa Coffee of treating allergy training as a ‘tick-box exercise’, leading to the death of her ‘vivacious, caring, affectionate’ daughter.
However, The Mail on Sunday has learned that Hannah’s life could have been saved if it wasn’t for an alleged dangerous shortage of prescription drugs in the UK.
The inquest into her death, which occurred in February 2023, heard that a pharmacist who assisted her during the fatal allergic reaction said the correct dose of an emergency medicine was ‘out of stock’.
Undated family handout photo issued by solicitors Leigh Day of Hannah Jacobs, 13, of Barking, east London, who had a severe dairy allergy
Hannah’s mother, Abimbola Duyile, holds a picture of her daughter as solicitor outside East London Coroner’s Court following the conclusion of the inquest of 13-year-old Hannah Jacobs who died following a suspected anaphylactic reaction to a hot chocolate drink purchased at a Costa Coffee branch in Barking
Instead, Santokh Kahlon from Daynight Pharmacy in Barking, Essex, said he used the ‘only EpiPen on the shelf’ which contained 150mg of adrenaline – a third of the necessary amount for a teenager. He said that his staff desperately searched for another dose, but were unable to find one due to a UK-wide ‘lack of supply’.
He began performing CPR on the teenager from London, while a customer called an ambulance. However, by the time Hannah was taken to hospital it was too late. She died that afternoon.
Worringly, experts warn that continuing drug shortages could lead to further deaths. Over the past year, more than half of people in the UK have struggled to get their prescriptions, according to research. And about one in 12 have failed to access any crucial medicines, including hormone replacement therapy, antibiotics and inhalers.
For the past six months, the MoS has brought to light dozens of cases of patients affected by these shortages. But the Government is yet to set out plans to tackle the issue.
‘What will it take before the Government steps up and does something?’ says Dr Leyla Hann-beck, chief executive of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies. ‘If the right EpiPen dose had been available, it is possible this child could have been saved.
‘Something is very wrong in our country when there is a shortage of life-saving medicines. Patients are living on the edge, hoping to get their drugs in time. It is unacceptable.’
While shortages have largely been triggered by increased global demand and manufacturing issues, experts say it is within Government power to ease the crisis. That is why MoS has launched its End The Drug Shortage Nightmare campaign. This newspaper is calling on the Government to give pharmacists the power to make substitutions for patients when drugs are out of stock and to force manufacturers to give advance warning of known shortages or face fines.
A view of the Costa Coffee branch on Station Parade in Barking, east London, where Abimbola Duyile bought her 13-year-old daughter Hannah Jacobs a hot chocolate drink which she suffered a severe reaction to and died in hospital
We also believe there should be a database for patients to check which pharmacies have drugs in stock – and we argue that all NHS patients should be allowed to use well stocked hospital pharmacies to source critical medicines.
The inquest into Hannah’s death heard how her mother warned Costa Coffee staff in Station Parade Barking about her daughter’s severe dairy allergy when ordering two hot chocolates.
Ms Duyile claimed she apologised to baristas for ‘being a pain’ and requested that the jug and steamer were also cleaned, East London Coroner’s Court was told.
Hannah and her mother were attending a nearby dental practice when she sipped the drink and ‘immediately’ began vomiting and struggling to swallow. They left after 10 minutes due to Hannah’s symptoms and sought help at the pharmacy across the road.
Ms Duyile asked for a dose of the antihistamine gel cetirizine, which she said usually helped calm her daughter’s symptoms. But on this occasion it did not work.
Mr Kahlon, the pharmacist, searched for an EpiPen, which contains a dose of adrenaline also known as epinephrine – a drug that can treat anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic complication.
Neither Hannah nor her mother were carrying an EpiPen at the time, despite this being the advice given to severe allergy patients.
According to official guidance, 10mg per kg of body weight is required. Hannah, unconscious when the injection was given, weighed 47kg (104lbs).
This meant the 150mg dose she received was not nearly enough to counter the reaction.
EpiPens have been in short supply at times since 2018, according to NHS data. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman denied there had been a recorded shortage of EpiPens at the time of Hannah’s death but added: ‘We have been in ongoing discussions with the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation about improving support for people with allergies and Ministers are currently carefully considering the concerns raised by the coroner.’
