BLF Helped Watauga Family Move Forward After Daycare Caused Toddler’s Severe Allergic Reaction

Despite parents completing the required paperwork documenting their daughter’s severe peanut allergies and providing the daycare center in Watauga with her food allergy emergency plan, caregivers at the center gave the toddler a rice cake with peanut butter and banana in July 2022. The toddler’s body immediately went into anaphylaxis—she developed itchy hives and could not open her eyes because they were so swollen.

To make matters worse, the toddler’s caregivers did not know how to properly administer an EpiPen, putting the young girl’s life in danger. (A caregiver activated the medication on themselves instead of the child.) The center finally called emergency medical services after the failed EpiPen attempt. Paramedics attempted to treat the toddler on the scene and then rushed her to a local hospital for further treatment.

The toddler’s parents contacted our experienced North Texas daycare injury lawyers at The Button Law Firm, and we fought to get justice for the toddler and her family. Our legal team made the daycare center in Watauga answer for its many failures that broke Texas childcare laws and endangered the toddler’s life. With our help, the family was able to move forward with compensation to cover the toddler’s expensive medical treatments, traumatic experience, and resulting struggles that affected her entire family.

How Did the Watauga Daycare Center Endanger the Toddler’s Life?

Diagnosed food allergies have increased with little ones—5.8% of children in the U.S. have a food allergy, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Therefore, daycare centers need to be diligent about Texas daycare laws, also known as minimum standards, that were created to prevent allergic reactions at childcare centers.

This entire incident was 100% preventable. Sadly, the Watauga daycare center, in this case, ignored several minimum standards and endangered the toddler’s life with its careless operation practices. An independent investigation conducted by the Texas Health and Human Services and Texas Department of Family Protective Services found the daycare center violated the following key standards:

1. While the toddler’s parents provided the daycare center with all the necessary information to alert the center about their daughter’s severe peanut allergy and shared her food allergy emergency plan, the daycare owner never communicated nor relayed the information to the daycare director and the toddler’s caregivers.
2. When a child experiences an allergic reaction, every second counts. However, the caregivers at the Watauga daycare center were not properly trained in administering the toddler’s EpiPen. This lack of emergency training caused the toddler’s body to go into anaphylaxis, risking her survival. In addition, the caregivers failed to contact emergency medical services right away. Instead, they waited until after the failed EpiPen attempt to get outside help for her.
3. The Watauga daycare center did not post the toddler’s food allergies in her classroom where all caregivers could easily see the information, be aware of it, and know not to keep or serve the allergen to the entire class.
4. The toddler’s severe peanut allergy was documented when her parents enrolled her at the Watauga daycare center, yet caregivers still served her peanut butter.
5. The Watauga daycare center did not properly store medication in a place that was inaccessible to little hands. Instead, the toddler’s EpiPen was stored in her backpack on the floor in the classroom.

All of these operation failures and lack of consideration for child safety and the minimum standards led to the toddler’s suffering and traumatic experience. And, this incident was not a one-time oversight at the Watauga daycare center. The center had a history of breaking childcare laws and received 13 citations from the state prior to the toddler’s anaphylactic scare. Violations ranged from improper supervision and having classrooms out of ratio to placing unqualified caregivers in charge of children and failure to verify an annual health inspection.

How Did The Button Law Firm Fight To Get Justice for the Watauga Toddler and Her Family?

The toddler’s anaphylactic episode required multiple medical interventions. She was first treated by paramedics with the local fire department for her allergic reaction and hives. They noted significant swelling to her face and both eyes. They administered Benadryl and transported her by ambulance to a local hospital. There, she was treated for anaphylactic shock and reaction. She was discharged after receiving critical care but required expensive continued care and monitoring.

As you can imagine, the entire experience from the allergic reaction at the daycare center to being rushed to the local hospital was traumatic for the toddler and her family. Even after receiving medical care, the toddler experienced a disrupted sleep schedule from frequent night terrors. (She had such a hard time sleeping soundly that doctors recommended her mother give her melatonin to help get her rest routine on track.) The toddler also developed a fear of foods, refusing to eat anything she was unfamiliar with.

The allergic reaction incident at the Watauga daycare center also created stressors for the toddler’s parents. In addition to the nightmare of seeing their daughter suffer, the parents struggled to find a new daycare center they could trust. The new center was far more expensive, and ultimately the toddler’s mother was forced to resign from her job to stay home and care for the toddler until she was old enough to attend a local public school.

Our experienced daycare injury lawyers fought to get justice for the toddler and her parents. We made the daycare center in Watauga answer for the many safety failures that caused the toddler’s allergic reaction. We secured a settlement to help cover the toddler’s costly medical bills and compensate the family for the traumatic experience and subsequent obstacles they all faced. Thanks to our legal team, the daycare center changed its policies to comply with the minimum standards and the toddler and her family were able to move forward.

Was Your Child Seriously Injured at a Daycare Center? Contact The Button Law Firm.

If your child was physically or emotionally harmed because a daycare center did not follow Texas childcare safety laws, contact our experienced daycare and child injury lawyers at The Button Law Firm. With lawyers in Dallas, Houston, and Midland, we are ready to listen, fight for your family, and help your family move forward. Our lawyers at The Button Law Firm are recognized on the prestigious Texas Super Lawyers list, and we can help guide you after a traumatizing incident involving your child. We work on contingency, meaning we don’t charge you or collect any upfront fees to get started on your case. Call us at 214-699-4409, email us at [email protected], or fill out a contact form for a free case evaluation.