Coroner calls for leadership on allergies after death of teenage girl

A CORONER has warned that more allergy sufferers will die due to a “lack of national leadership” following the death of an aspiring doctor from Henley.

Heidi Connor said the case of 17-year-old Alexandra Briess was “not new territory”, citing three other incidents of people dying of anaphylaxis.

She has written to Health Secretary Steve Barclay saying that lives are at risk without better funding and research into the condition.

Mrs Connor, senior coroner for Berkshire, is calling for the creation of a new leadership role for allergies and responsibility within NHS England to co-ordinate a national plan.

Her comments follow an inquest into the death of Miss Briess in December which heard that she had died from a reaction to a common anaesthetic.

She had undergone an “uneventful” tonsillectomy in May 2021 but suffered post-operative bleeding and required further surgery eight days later.

During anaesthesia, her condition suddenly deteriorated and she suffered a cardiac arrest.

Despite attempts to resuscitate her, she died at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading.

Investigations revealed that the most likely cause of her death was as an anaphylactic reaction to Rocuronium, a drug she had not had before. Her reaction to it was “unpredictable”.

Mrs Connor described Miss Briess as a “bright and well-loved young woman” who had planned to study medicine.

She has also written to allergy organisations demanding change.

Allergy charities in the UK have long been calling for more funding to research the field.      Mrs Connor called for a new job role to be created within the NHS to act as the leader for allergies at a national level, overseeing and

She said the organisations were already in place and showing “goodwill” to understanding allergies but they needed to work together. If not, more people were at risk of death.

In a report called Prevention of Future Deaths, Mrs Connor said: “The only way to improve understanding and prevent or reduce future deaths is to gather information nationally and fund appropriate research.

“Appropriate organisations already exist and there is a lot of goodwill towards improving understanding in this area.

“It does, however, require national leadership and ‘joining up’ of these organisations. There is significant goodwill and desire to improve among numerous organisations involved in anaphylaxis work.

“What is lacking is national leadership and funding. In my view, consideration should be given to creating a leadership role and responsibility within NHS England to co-ordinate a national approach.”

Mrs Connor said it should be mandatory that fatal reactions are referred to the UK Fatal Anaphylaxis Registry, something which charities have been calling for.

The registry was happy to take on the task and distribute information to relevant organisations.

Mrs Connor said the process of information sharing should be
prioritised.

She said: “Gathering data and using this to research and reduce the risk of future deaths requires funding, and this should be reviewed.” Mrs Connor cited the cases of three other people who died from allergies and where coroners raised concerns.

Celia Marsh, 42, died after eating a “vegan” Pret A Manger wrap with milk in, Shante Turay-Thomas, 18, died after eating hazelnut at home and Ruben Bousquet, 14, died after eating popcorn contaminated with milk while at a cinema.

At their inquests, coroners warned there needed to be more funding to prevent allergy deaths.

A tribute page set up in Miss Briess’s memory raised almost £9,000.

Friends remembered the “beautiful” girl and a “loyal and loving friend with a great sense of fun”.

Miss Briess’s father David is a retired doctor and her mother Tanya is a GP practice nurse.