Opinion: I learned the hard way that U.S. airlines are not currently required to have EpiPens
Since 2016, airlines have been able to apply for “emergency” exemptions to the requirement that they carry epinephrine for anaphylaxis. That needs to end.
I was in seat 20C on a flight home this March, when I felt my throat closing. Minutes earlier, hives had appeared on my face and chest. As a physician, I knew exactly what these symptoms meant: anaphylaxis, a severe allergic reaction so precipitously fatal that putting a breathing tube down someone’s throat is sometimes necessary.
What I needed was an epinephrine autoinjector, also known as an EpiPen, but neither the airplane emergency medical kit nor any other passenger had one. The kit did have a glass vial of epinephrine, but without someone to safely administer it with a syringe it was useless. My family helplessly watched me struggle to breathe. We were still 30 minutes from landing.
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