Girl Didn't Die From Peanut Butter
"Elements of the investigation tell us peanut butter was not responsible," Miron told the AP. Miron said clinical indicators have eliminated peanut as the cause for her death and said it appeared the girl suffered from "cerebral anoxia," or lack of oxygen to the brain, which caused serious damage.
When asked to comment on reports that the girl also suffered from asthma and believed she was suffering from an asthma attack before she collapsed, Miron said this was part of the investigation that he could not discuss.
Symptoms of peanut allergies can include hives, plunging blood pressure and swelling of the face and throat, which can block breathing.
Without actually seeing the coroner's report, it seems to me that the coroner here has missed something here - anaphylaxis happens to have not so minor side effects like constricting the airways. Which, can result in precisely the kind of death he mentions. If it happened to compound with an asthma attack, I can only imagine what the results might be.
It sounds too much like someone with a case of "allergies are all in your head" trying to prove their point with the same kind of "deductive logic" that young earth creationists use.
I'm also more than a little irritated with him taking his statements public, but not making a complete analysis available at the same time. If the death wasn't due to the anaphylaxis, what was the cause? How do we know it wasn't an aggravating factor? (e.g. Where the hell is the science behind his statements?)
People with life-threatening allergies don't need someone running around making "half-claims" about their condition. If anaphylaxis contributed to the girl's death, it would hardly be the first time it's happened. If not, let's get the facts out there. The "it won't hurt you" attitude towards these allergies is still far too common out there, and this coroner's comments only seem to muddy the picture further.
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