Canadian suffered allergic reaction from nuts in vegan cheese, then was overdosed on adrenaline at Royal Adelaide Hospital
ZEV Minuskin, 25, was rushed to the Royal Adelaide Hospital fighting for his life in the middle of a severe allergic reaction to peanuts — but he says the vital adrenaline shot nearly proved fatal when doctors gave him 10 times the recommended amount.
More news from the RAH:
- SA Health brings in advisers to tackle $250m debt
- RAH wins several architecture awards
- Construction site was safe despite worker death
A CANADIAN who suffered a severe allergic reaction to vegan cheese was accidentally given a potentially fatal shot of adrenaline after arriving at the Royal Adelaide Hospital by Uber.
Hospital officials blame human error for the overdose and have apologised to the patient who fully recovered after the double scare of anaphylaxis followed by the adrenaline shot which sent his heart rate rocketing.
Zev Minuskin, 25, from Toronto, was given ten times the recommended amount of adrenaline which sent his heart rate into overdrive and made him vomit.
“I turned white, was in a lot of pain and threw up — my heart was beating at 140 for about three hours,” he said.
“Suddenly there were about eight doctors in the room and the senior doctor said ‘We’ve stuffed up, you’ve been overdosed on adrenaline.”
Mr Minuskin arrived in Adelaide in June on a company transfer in the computer industry.
His medical ordeal began when he went to a party with an Australian friend earlier this month and ate some cheese — it turned out to be vegan cheese made with peanuts.
Mr Minuskin has a known allergy to nuts and has previously suffered anaphylaxis from the allergy, but did not realise the cheese was made of nuts — and did not have his usual EpiPen containing adrenaline with him at the time to counter the reaction.
He had a massive allergic reaction to the nuts including difficulty breathing and his friend rang both an ambulance and an Uber — the Uber arrived first so they took it to the RAH.
He was given an initial shot of adrenaline for the anaphylaxis which calmed the reaction but then broke out in hives.
“They then gave me 3mg of adrenaline,” he said. “A regular EpiPen has 0.3mg so this was the equivalent of being hit with ten EpiPens.
“My heart immediately started racing — it was definitely an overdose. I have researched it and this was a potentially fatal dose.”
Mr Minuskin was closely monitored for the next 10 hours as the dosage subsided before being discharged when fully recovered from the anaphylaxis — however his discharge summary makes no mention of the overdose.
A Central Adelaide Local Health Network — which covers the RAH — spokesman said the incident had been investigated.
“We have thoroughly reviewed the case and found the additional dosage was a result of a miscommunication between staff,” he said.
“The additional dosage was recognised within minutes and staff immediately discussed the incident with the patient and apologised for the error.
“Any medication incident is taken extremely seriously, and we consistently review staff education and support to ensure practices and protocols meet national standards.
“Staff involved with this case have been counselled and will undergo further training.”
The incident has been logged on SA Health’s Safety Learning System which tracks all errors and near-misses in an effort to ensure they are not repeated.