Diabetes malpractice is wide spread. The American Diabetes Association has published various standards in terms of the care and management of diabetes which, if complied with, provide the means to bring the blood sugar of most diabetics under control. The combination of daily testing of blood sugar by the patient and the regular testing of glycosylated hemoglobin by the doctor provide the information to allow adjustments in insulin to bring blood sugar levels as close as possible to that of a non-diabetic. The failure of a doctor to implement that type of regimen is probably medical malpractice.
It is high levels of blood sugar, particularly in the small blood vessels that serve sensitive areas of the body like the kidneys and the peripheral nerves in the hands and the feet and the retina of the eye that is particularly destructive. Typically patients that are informed of the destructive mechanism of diabetes and the ease with which it can be controlled become faithful in their own testing habits. The key is getting that information to the patient.
The American Diabetes Association has been especially forthright in setting forth what these basic standards of care are and encouraging all physicians to bring them to the attention of patients and to enforce them within their own practice.
In a study published in March of 2011 from the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio it is reported that people who took a new drug marketed under the brand name of Actos were less likely to develop diabetes than a similar group who was given a placebo. Actos is from the same class of drugs as Avandia which had been found to increase the risk of heart attack. Actos is believed to be safer than Avandia but it has been linked to increased risk of congestive heart failure and the Food and Drug Administration is looking at possible links to bladder cancer. Questions continue to remain as to whether or not this drug in fact prevented diabetes or simply is masking it by lowering elevated blood sugar levels.
If you have been injured as a result of the malpractice of a physician in managing your diabetes, then contact us.
