Model Suffers Brain Damage From Eating Pretzel, Awarded $29.5 Million

The family of a woman who was left brain-damaged by a serious allergic reaction in 2013 was awarded $29.5 million Friday after a Las Vegas court ruled she was negligently treated by responding medical personnel.

A jury found that ambulance service provider MedicWest Ambulance negligently treated then-27-year-old model Chantel Giacalone in February 2013 after they failed to provide her with proper medication, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

Giacalone, now 35, went into anaphylactic shock after taking a bite of a pretzel that was infused with peanut butter while working at a fashion trade show at the Mandalay Bay South Convention Center. The then-aspiring actress lost oxygen to her brain for a period of minutes after being treated by MedicWest Ambulance, her lawyer Christian Morris said.

The three-week civil trial saw Giacalone's lawyer arguing that neither of the two MedicWest Ambulance medics on-site that day had IV epinephrine — an adrenaline treatment for severe allergic reactions required by the Southern Nevada Health District that costs around $2.42.

According to Morris, the medics only used the intramuscular epinephrine they had on hand, but Giacalone's full anaphylaxis required the IV.

"Every minute of Chantel's life has been inextricably altered," Morris told the court. "Every single minute since she walked into that medic room to a company that chose profits over patient care."

Morris asked the court for more than $60 million in damages for past and future medical expenses, as well as past and future pain and emotional suffering.

MedicWest, for its part, denied any wrongdoing and claimed Giacalone was breathing and never lost consciousness while in the care of its medics. The company also claimed that the outcome was inevitable because of Giacalone's extreme sensitivity to peanuts.

It further argued that even if the company was found negligent, the damages should only sum up to $8 million — nowhere near what Giacalone's family was asking.

But the model's father, Jack Giacalone, dismissed MedicWest's statements. "The truth came out. Because what happened in that room was nothing. They let my daughter linger," he said.

According to Jack, the money will be invested in his daughter's future care and for a new home that is more conducive to her needs. Giacalone, now a quadriplegic who is fed through a tube and can only communicate with her eyes, is currently cared for by her parents, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.