Qatar Airways sued over teen's death from alleged allergic reaction

Dhaka: Qatar Airways is facing a lawsuit after a passenger's family alleged their 16-year-old son died mid-flight following a severe allergic reaction to a sandwich served on board.

The family of Jason Hu filed a civil complaint against Qatar Airways and MedAire, a medical and travel safety services firm, on July 14 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The complaint stems from an incident on August 21, 2024.

According to the family, Jason was returning to the U.S. with his sister Erica and father Eric after a trip to China, with a connecting flight from Doha to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Jason reportedly had allergies to peanuts, dairy, and fish, which he and his father allegedly disclosed to the flight crew. The complaint claims crew members nonetheless assured them a sandwich was safe for him to eat.

Shortly after eating it, Jason allegedly began struggling to breathe and collapsed. A nebulizer he tried using reportedly failed to help.

A crew member is said to have then given Jason an unidentified injection, which also did not help, according to the complaint. A portable oxygen tank subsequently provided was allegedly non-functional as well.

The complaint states Jason was believed to have died during the flight and remained in his seat, with a non-working oxygen mask on his face, for its remainder. He was pronounced dead upon arrival at JFK.

Jason's father and Jenny Nguyen, co-administrators of his estate, are now suing Qatar Airways and MedAire, seeking compensatory damages over the teen's death and demanding a jury trial.

The lawsuit alleges Qatar Airways failed to keep onboard medical equipment functional, including the oxygen tank and an epinephrine auto-injector.

It further claims MedAire, which provides remote medical guidance to airlines, failed to give the flight crew adequate medical and diversion advice during the emergency.

Neither Qatar Airways nor MedAire has publicly responded to the allegations so far. The case is pending before the federal court in Pennsylvania.