A 3-year-old girl with a severe dairy allergy was hospitalized after a Qatar Airways flight attendant allegedly gave the child a chocolate bar despite warnings from the toddler’s mother not to serve her anything containing milk.
When North Carolina resident Swetha Neerukonda returned to her seat from the bathroom, the shocked parent confronted the flight attendant, who “mocked and mitigated” her concerns as the toddler went into anaphylaxis and her vital signs declined, according to a $5 million lawsuit reviewed by The Independent.
Upon landing, the child’s condition worsened and she spent two days in the intensive care unit until being stabilized, the lawsuit states.
“It’s inconceivable – they take it upon themselves to give the child the allergen?” attorney Abram Bohrer, who is representing Neerukonda, told The Independent. “This was a very serious, life-threatening situation.”
The suit, filed October 31 in Alexandria, Virginia federal court, claims the cabin crew did little to help, leaving Neerukonda largely to her own devices.
“You’d think they would jump into action, calling for ground-based telemedicine support, asking for a doctor on board,” Bohrer said. “But they were somewhat blasé, very indifferent.”
A Qatar Airways spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Anaphylaxis is an allergic reaction that shuts down the body’s airways and can be fatal without immediate medical intervention. In one instance, a 20-year-old woman with a shellfish allergy nearly died from an anaphylactic reaction that occurred shortly after she kissed her boyfriend, who ate shrimp earlier in the day.
The Federal Aviation Administration does not require airlines to carry EpiPens, but planes are required to carry vials of epinephrine, which only a trained medical professional can administer, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.
On April 9, Neerukonda, 33, and her young daughter boarded Qatar Airways flight QR710 from Washington Dulles International Airport in Sterling, Virginia, according to Neerukonda’s complaint.
They were headed to India, and would catch a connection at Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar, following the 14-hour flight from Dulles.
Neerukonda informed members of the cabin crew upon boarding about her daughter’s allergies to dairy and nuts, and also reiterated the warning during the journey, her complaint continues. Once crewmembers were “placed on notice of a passenger’s food allergy,” the complaint argues, “they had a duty of care to ensure that food items containing such allergens… [would] not be served to that passenger.”
At one point during the flight, Neerukonda needed to use the lavatory, and one of the flight attendants agreed to keep an eye on her daughter while she was gone, according to the complaint. Neerukonda “once again reiterated” that her daughter suffered from allergies to dairy and nuts, which said flight attendant acknowledged,” the complaint states.
But, when Neerukonda returned, the flight attendant was feeding her a Kit Kat bar, according to Bohrer.
Neerukonda then confronted the flight attendant who “responded by admitting that she had fed the … snack to the child, and who mocked and mitigated [Neerukonda’s] concerns,” according to the complaint.
“Within a short period, [the young girl] began to suffer severe anaphylaxis as her mental status and vital signs declined,” the complaint continues.
Bohrer said the child experienced a “rapid decline in her oxygen saturation rate, and ultimately required an EpiPen injection,” which the complaint says Neerukonda administered. However, “no PA announcement was made by cabin crew members, in violation of [the airline’s] own practices and procedures,” according to the complaint.
“Moreover,” it contends, “when [Neerukonda] sought to share information with a fellow passenger whom she believed to be a witness, a… flight attendant intervened, claiming that was in violation of the airline’s policy.”
The girl’s condition improved somewhat and she made it to Doha for their connection without further incident, the complaint states. Yet, once they landed in India, the child suffered a second anaphylactic reaction and was rushed to the hospital and placed in the ICU for emergency treatment.
In 2023, a Southern California cardiologist flying Qatar Airways from Los Angeles to Sri Lanka died after being denied the vegetarian meal he had ordered, choking on a piece of food while attempting to follow a flight attendant’s instructions to “eat around” the meat in the meal he was given instead, according to a wrongful death lawsuit first reported by The Independent.
.png)
A year later, a New York City physician flying Singapore Airlines from Frankfurt, Germany to John F. Kennedy International Airport “fell violently ill” when she was served a meal containing shrimp, even after having made sure to notify the cabin crew of her severe shellfish allergy, according to a lawsuit filed last June. The flight was forced to divert to Paris, where the woman was “transported by ambulance and underwent emergency medical treatment at two separate medical facilities,” according to her complaint.
In June 2024, British reality TV star Jack Fowler experienced what he described as near-fatal anaphylaxis aboard an Emirates flight to Dubai, after being served a chicken curry containing cashew nuts, despite allegedly informing a flight attendant that he had a severe nut allergy.
“Cashew is the worst nut for me,” Fowler told Good Morning Britain at the time. “Straight away I knew my throat was closing up, I couldn’t breathe.”
Neerukonda’s lawsuit says her daughter “suffered great pain, agony and mental anguish” thanks to the candy bar she was given by the Qatar Airways flight attendant, and will likely continue to deal with related problems.
She is demanding a jury trial and $5 million in damages, as well as pre- and post-judgment interest, plus court costs and legal fees.
Qatar Airways has not yet filed a formal response to the allegations.
