The life of Megan Shai Brown, a Vineyard woman and mother of two, changed in an instant in the fall of 2023.
Her husband, Mike Brown, was playing in a charity golf tournament in Edgartown, helping to raise money for first responders, when he was stung by a wasp. Even though he had no prior history of allergic reactions to bee stings, and even though he was surrounded by some of the best-trained EMTs and paramedics on the Island, Brown went into anaphylactic shock, and would later die from the allergic reaction.
Just days prior, he had been singing “Happy Birthday” to his 8-year-old son.
“In the blink of an eye, the world that Mike and I worked so hard to build in Massachusetts ceased to exist,” Megan Brown told a panel of state lawmakers last week. “Mike will never take our son, Calvin, fishing again. He’ll never cheer for Miles at his baseball games, or watch them graduate. He won’t be there for birthdays, holidays, or Father’s Day.”
Brown’s death could have very easily been avoided if those playing golf with him that day had had access to epinephrine. Commonly known through its brand name EpiPen, the medication is used to treat severe allergic reactions. Sadly, the golf course Brown was playing at did not have the medication, nor did the EMTs he was playing golf with, according to the family.
Megan Brown has since taken her tragic loss and courageously pushed for better access to EpiPens locally and beyond. Last year, the Edgartown Police Department agreed to put the medication in their police cruisers.
But Brown has taken her cause a step further. She has championed a bill at the State House, filed by Island representatives, that would make it easier for businesses, schools, restaurants, day camps, theme parks, and other organizations to carry and administer the medication if it appears that someone could be going into anaphylaxis. Brown testified on behalf of the bill before a committee on healthcare just a few days before Father’s Day. The bill, if passed, would provide exemptions from civil liability if someone does not have a prescription for the medication; it outlines requirements for how businesses should train their staff for how to use EpiPens. The bill would not force a business to do anything, but it would make the tools to treat anaphylaxis more readily available so that staff can be ready in an emergency.
Strangely, Massachusetts — touted as having some of the best healthcare in the country — is way behind. We are one of only a handful of states in the country that does not have this type of legislation in place. According to the advocacy group Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Connection Team, 36 states have passed similar legislation to that proposed by Brown, including South Carolina and West Virginia.
What is crucial to this bill is that many people may not know that they have an allergy. And there’s also some urgency for the Vineyard to have wider access. Over the past several years, cases of alpha-gal — which causes an allergic reaction to red meat and dairy –– have skyrocketed on the Island with the arrival of the lone star tick. In 2020, there were just two positive tests of alpha-gal reported at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. In 2024, there were 523. While testing for the disease has spiked, with awareness spreading, that’s still a startling statistic. While rare, alpha-gal can cause anaphylaxis. Having widespread access to EpiPens on the Island makes a lot of sense.
We strongly support the legislature moving this bill forward, and quickly. Having wider access to the medication is common sense, and should get underway immediately.
The Island owes a debt of gratitude to Megan Shai Brown for bringing her story forward. Sharing such an intimate and traumatic moment with a panel of state lawmakers, and the wider world, was surely not easy. We applaud Brown’s courage and her spirit of public service. And we hope that she can find solace knowing that her efforts could help to save others with a common medication more readily available.