Food Allergies and the Law

Learning that my young daughter has a severe, life-threatening allergy to peanuts and having had to save her life has been very frightening.  Having to navigate allergies in the schools has made this issue forefront to me and caused me to become an advocate for persons with food allergies.  

I am committed to helping parents navigate the large body of laws regarding disability, waivers, the availability and administration of life saving medications, counseling them through the process of reasonable accommodation/modifications and obtaining health care plans (IHPs) for their allergic child. 

In California, many laws may apply to your allergic child at school, including, but not limited to the American Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, state disability laws, federal and state education codes, state contract laws and more. Laws regarding the availability and administration of epinephrine are often misunderstood. 

I am a member of FARE and am on their legislative action committee, have successfully lobbied at the California State Capitol for the passage of food allergy laws including a bill recently enacted to allow public accommodations to have epinephrine on hand.  I have presented at national conferences on the laws that apply to food allergic students and epinephrine law education to physician groups.