A 16-year-old Indian-origin boy, Rohan Godhania, from Ealing, West London, passed away on August 15, 2020, after consuming a protein shake that led to ‘irreversible brain damage.’ Rohan’s father, Pushpa, revealed during the inquest that he had bought the shake for his son to aid in muscle-building, as Rohan was considered ‘quite skinny’, according to a report in METRO.
Following this mishap, a senior UK coroner has urged supermarkets to include life-saving health warnings on protein shakes sold to consumers. The call for action aims to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future.
The METRO further reports that the protein shake Rohan consumed triggered a rare genetic condition known as ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency, which caused a dangerous breakdown of ammonia in his bloodstream, leading to lethal levels. Regrettably, a post-mortem examination could not definitively identify OTC as the cause of death due to Rohan’s organs being donated for transplantation before the underlying illness was identified, Milton Keynes coroner’s court previously heard.
On June 27, coroner Tom Osborne expressed his preliminary view that regulatory authorities should be contacted regarding the need for warning labels on protein shake packaging. Although OTC is a rare condition, it can have harmful effects when someone with the deficiency consumes protein shakes, causing a sudden spike in protein levels.
Professor Finbar O’Callaghan, an expert in pediatric neurology at the Institute of Child Health, University College London, emphasized the urgent need for intervention, describing it as potentially life-saving. During the inquest, he stated that if an ammonia test had been conducted when Rohan was admitted to the hospital, it was probable that he would have survived. The professor also expressed that this was a missed opportunity for early detection and intervention.
OTC is a rare X-linked recessive disorder and hence manifests more severely in males. It is characterized by a deficiency of the enzyme ornithine transcarbamylase, which plays a crucial role in the body’s nitrogen breakdown and removal process known as the urea cycle. In individuals with OTC, the urea cycle malfunctions, resulting in the accumulation of toxic ammonia in the blood. Elevated ammonia levels primarily affect the nervous system and can prove fatal without immediate medical attention.
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