A nurse in a prison infirmary has a violent reaction associated with gloves, but is separated by locked doors from the shot of Epipen that will halt her anaphylaxis. She dies in the prison. An ever-growing list of people have seen their lives forever altered or even ended because they developed a sensitivity to natural rubber latex. If you have a drug that causes two deaths, it's taken off the market. This is a patients' rights issue and that's starting to be recognized.
People have a right to be safe.
Borel lost her ability to practice dentistry after she became disabled by her own latex allergy. The life-threatening allergic reactions were only half the misery. The treatments that prevent the lethal anaphylaxis are themselves so hard on the body, Borel and others like her endure interrelated maladies and a general deterioration in health. At 45, she just had a pacemaker installed - her fifth cardiac procedure. Yet latex allergy is an enigma even to those whose lives stand to be ruined by it.