Failure to Diagnose and Treat Gestational Diabetes
Gestational diabetes is a common condition that arises during pregnancy, affecting nearly 10 percent of pregnant women. It involves high glucose levels and excess insulin in the mother. It can cause serious pregnancy and birth complications if not diagnosed and treated early. Gestational diabetes is treatable when caught in a timely manner. However, it can cause serious pregnancy and birth complications if not diagnosed and treated early.
Written and edited by our team of expert legal content writers and reviewed and approved by Daniel Harwin
- Content last updated on:
- October 8, 2024
Table of Contents
- What Happens to the Baby if Gestational Diabetes is Not Diagnosed and Treated?
- Can a Mother Obtain Compensation if Her Doctor Didn’t Diagnose Gestational Diabetes?
- Choosing FHVG for Your Missed Gestational Diabetes Diagnosis Lawsuit
- Criteria for Gestational Diabetes Diagnosis
- Contact FHVG for a Free Consultation
If an obstetrician or gynecologist has failed to timely diagnose your gestational diabetes and that causes harm to you or your baby, it is crucial to have a birth injury lawyer review your case. The lawyer can make all the difference in the outcome of your case The medical malpractice attorneys at Freedland Harwin Valori Gander have the experience and knowledge to get the justice and compensation you deserve for the injuries you and your baby endured.
What Happens to the Baby if Gestational Diabetes is Not Diagnosed and Treated?
When gestational diabetes is not properly diagnosed and timely treated, both the mother and the baby are at risk for serious health issues and complications. It is possible the baby could gain excess weight too quickly, subjecting the mother to difficult labor. It could even cause the baby to potentially become stuck in the birth canal.
If a mother’s health deteriorates because of a missed or delayed diagnosis, premature labor could result. There are a variety of potential harms and birth complications that could also occur due to undiagnosed gestational diabetes, including:
- High blood sugar levels in the infant
- Excess insulin in the infant
- Increased risk of obesity for the child later in life
- Development of type 2 diabetes in the mother
- Respiratory distress in premature infants
- Increased risk of gestational diabetes in subsequent pregnancies for the mother
- Stillbirth
It is crucial to have a well-informed pregnancy to avoid complications. That includes knowing whether you need treatment for gestational diabetes.
The Link Between Gestational Diabetes & Birth Injury
Often, a failure to properly and timely diagnose gestational diabetes often constitutes medical malpractice because untreated gestational diabetes greatly increases the risk of birth injuries and other complications for both mother and child. During pregnancy, your doctor has a legal duty to discover, diagnose, and treat any medical issues that occur to prevent injuries. A health care provider’s failure to fulfill that duty may qualify as a failure to diagnose or an obstetrical error—both types of medical malpractice.
If you discover you had undiagnosed gestational diabetes during pregnancy, and you or your child has suffered an injury, your health care providers may be liable for the harm.
Can a Mother Obtain Compensation if Her Doctor Didn’t Diagnose Gestational Diabetes?
If your health care providers failed to meet the accepted professional standard of care for diagnosing gestational diabetes and that resulted in harm to you or your baby, you might have grounds to bring a medical malpractice lawsuit. In a medical malpractice claim, you can pursue compensation for both economic and non-economic damages.
In Florida, the statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims is two years from the date of the incident or your discovery of the injury but no longer than four years after the incident. The deadline for filing may be extended for cases involving minors, including children who have suffered birth injuries. If you believe you are a victim, you should not delay contacting a law firm.
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Choosing FHVG for Your Missed Gestational Diabetes Diagnosis Lawsuit
With over 25 years of experience navigating medical malpractice law, Freedland Harwin Valori Gander has recovered more than $2.6 billion in settlements and verdicts on behalf of malpractice victims. Our attorneys regularly fight drug companies, doctors, and multiple defendants simultaneously to help you pursue justice.
Our team shares a core desire to help others, and we are committed to seeking justice for our clients by fighting for just compensation. FHVG’s medical malpractice attorneys have consistently received recognition from SuperLawyers, Best Lawyers in America, and the South Florida Legal Guide.
Past Birth Injury Case Results
At FHVG, our attorneys have recovered billions of dollars in settlements and verdicts for medical malpractice victims, including many multi-million dollar awards for women and their children who were injured during childbirth. Recent results include the following:
- $24.5 Million Jury Verdict for the family of a 34-year-old woman who bled to death during childbirth.
- $15.2 Million Arbitration Award for a woman who suffered a stroke following childbirth and remains in a minimally conscious state.
- $10 Million Settlement for a patient who suffered a brain injury caused by oxygen deprivation. Through years of tactical and technical litigation, FHVG established that the nurses and physicians had failed to intervene and prevent the injury.
- $4.1 Million Settlement for the family of a mother who died from a hypertensive crisis after delivery that went without appropriate treatment.
I’ve worked with this firm multiple times. The entire team of attorneys, as well as staff members, are excellent! Their professionalism and integrity are unmatched, resulting in remarkable settlements and verdicts.
Criteria for Gestational Diabetes Diagnosis
When symptoms of gestational diabetes present in an expecting mother, it is her health care provider’s duty to detect them, order the appropriate tests, and timely diagnose the condition so the mother can begin treatment.
At various intervals during pregnancy, women should undergo blood tests—especially a glucose challenge test and glucose tolerance test—to detect and diagnose gestational diabetes. Those fasting blood sugar tests can ensure the mother’s and child’s health by checking for high blood sugar and excess insulin.
Risk Factors of Gestational Diabetes
Some of the risk factors for gestational diabetes include pregnancy in women who are older than 25, have a family history of type 2 diabetes, have a personal history of prediabetes or gestational diabetes in previous pregnancies, or are overweight or obese. Some early signs of gestational diabetes to watch for include fatigue, increased thirst, nausea, and dry mouth.
Contact FHVG for a Free Consultation
For decades, FHVG has worked to protect the rights of medical malpractice victims in Florida and nationwide. We have extensive experience challenging large corporations to win record-setting settlements.
Our passionate and aggressive attorneys employ all available resources to ethically pursue the maximum possible recovery. Our clients receive personalized attention from a full team that ensures accessible communication and compassionate service. FHVG is available to clients 24/7.
If you or a loved one were injured by a health care provider’s failure to diagnose gestational diabetes, contact FHVG today for a free consultation by calling 954-467-6400 or completing our online contact form.
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