By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-01 01:02:30 | Updated at 2025-01-03 22:10:41
2 days ago
The family of a man with a shellfish allergy who allegedly went into shock and died after being served contaminated pesto at a Las Vegas resort is suing the restaurant over his wrongful death.
Abraham Kenneth Ezra Williams was on vacation with his family in April 2024 when he unsuspectingly ordered spaghettini with pesto sauce at the Beauty & Essex inside The Cosmopolitan.
He had told the restaurant in advance that he was allergic to shellfish before ordering the dish.
Traditional pesto doesn’t include shellfish, but some store-bought brands can contain traces of anchovies, sardines, tuna and mussels.
Williams went into anaphylactic shock after just one bite. He reportedly bolted to the bathroom, and Beauty & Essex staff failed to act quickly to try to save his life, the lawsuit alleged.
He was carried out of the restaurant by friends while one person called 911.
“Employees of Defendant Cosmopolitan and/or Beauty & Essex created a barricade around the Decedent and refused to let anyone through to perform any life-saving techniques,” the lawsuit said, according to 8NewsNow.
When paramedics with the Community Ambulance and Clark County Fire Department arrived, they allegedly didn’t follow regular procedures for someone suffering anaphylactic shock either, the filing claimed according to the station.
The paramedics allegedly delayed administering medication, didn’t properly monitor Williams’ condition and allowed his state to decline by the time he arrived at the hospital, 8NewsNow reported.
Williams’ doctors performed a cricothyrotomy, cutting his neck to create an open airway. He couldn’t be incubated due to the severe swelling on his neck when he arrived, according to the lawsuit.
He was placed on a ventilator before he was eventually taken off and died four days later.
The lawsuit demanded a jury trial for the defendants and is seeking general and special damages of over $15,000, as well as unspecified punitive damages.
Accidental deaths caused by allergic reactions aren’t uncommon.
Most notably this year, a New York University doctor died at the Walt Disney World Resort after consuming a meal that unbeknownst to her contained dairy and nuts, which she was allergic to.
In early November, a 19-year-old Wisconsin college student died when she took a bite of a gluten-free brownie that contained roasted peanut flour as a substitute for wheat flour.
Another college student in Texas died after suffering an allergic reaction on a first date at a restaurant that had recently added peanut sauce to one of her go-to safe dishes — but hadn’t updated the menu to reflect the change.
