It is essential to the well-being or an unborn child that a mother is properly cared for during her pregnancy. This means not only making sure the mother is doing the basics — eating right and taking the proper vitamins — but the doctors caring for the woman also need to be weighing all risk factors when providing care during pregnancy.
It is essential to the well-being or an unborn child that a mother is properly cared for during her pregnancy. This means not only making sure the mother is doing the basics — eating right and taking the proper vitamins — but the doctors caring for the woman also need to be weighing all risk factors when providing care during pregnancy.
In a recent negligence and medical malpractice lawsuit filed against a hospital, its faculty foundation and one of its doctors, a mother claims failure to diagnose and treat a pre-existing condition during her pregnancy led to the death of her son.
The case goes back to 2008 when the mother was diagnosed with Antiphospholipid Syndrome, known as APS. The disorder is known for causing blood clots and for potentially leading to pregnancy complications.
However, the hospital and doctors who were treating the woman during her pregnancy allegedly failed to take her previous diagnosis into account. Her son ended up being born premature with blood clots in his lungs in October 2010. According to the lawsuit, this was due to the mother not being properly treated.
For her son not being properly diagnosed and the mother not being properly treated, the lawsuit is seeking more than $200,000 in damages.
In general, while it is unknown what will happen in this case, the failure to diagnose claim highlights the importance of not only properly diagnosing a patient, but also properly treating a patient. This becomes especially important when a woman is pregnant as failure to treat could negatively impact her unborn child.
Source: 89 WLS, “Parents sue Northwestern Memorial Hospital over child’s death,” Sept. 6, 2013
