Matthew Scarborough
Google
BEWARE: This Panera nearly killed me in front of my children. They do not take food allergies seriously and neglect basic precautions.
On a Saturday evening, my family went to a concert in Shelburne, VT. On our way, my wife ordered Panera which we picked up and ate in the parking lot of the venue. She made them aware of my sesame allergy— it’s on the order -- as well as my daughter’s sesame, tree nut, and shellfish allergies. About 20 minutes after eating, I quickly went into anaphylaxis. I took two Benadryl which I always carry, but breathing started becoming very difficult. My wife called 911 and I fell over beside my car. Luckily, I was in reach of my daughter’s two kid-size epi pens, so I managed to inject both in my thigh. Breathing got worse and I blacked out—I do recall the paramedic from Shelburne Rescue showing up; she got me situated lying on the ground and immediately put another dose of epi in my arm via syringe. Blood pressure was 60 over something… breathing did not improve. They gave me something in a nebulizer that finally opened my airway, enough that I figured I’d survive. So, I said bye to my wife and my kids as they put me on the stretcher. I got another nebulizer, two bags of saline, and anti-nausea meds on the way to the ER at the UVM Med Center. They checked me out there and gave me the equivalent of Pepcid and Zyrtec intravenously. I was monitored for three hours and sent home, told to take Benadryl every six hours. I called that Panera on Sunday morning and told a manager what happened. Unfortunately, not long after, I took a second trip to the ER. It took 3 days to get out of my system completely.
I have no idea if the Panera employee interpreted my allergy as “I want sesame dressing,” or just thought it would be funny. I never had a chance to know what it was since they don’t label the dressings when they put it in to-go bags; it’s just a small plastic cup.
It's been nearly a month and while I have had great discussions with their insurance company, Panera is ghosting me -- not telling my WHY this happened and HOW they will prevent this in the future.