Earlier this month, authorities in Pennsylvania arrested a couple following two consecutive hospitalizations of their 13-year-old son due to severe diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) episodes.
The boy, who suffers from type 1 diabetes, autism, ADHD, and hypoglycemia unawareness, requires careful adult supervision for his diabetes management, as detailed in an affidavit. This information was reported by The Daily Voice.
In September, the child experienced two critical DKA episodes within just three days. Medical professionals observed a troubling lack of disease management by his parents, noting consistently high blood sugar levels and attributing the hospitalizations to inadequate diabetes oversight.
The parents, Meghan Diffendall, 36, and Anthony Diffendall, 41, claimed that an insurance issue prevented them from acquiring his prescribed long-acting insulin. As a result, they resorted to using expired insulin after his first hospitalization on September 10.
Despite being discharged, the boy returned to the hospital three days later, suffering from chest pain, vomiting, and irregular breathing. He was found to be in severe DKA with high potassium levels and was immediately admitted to intensive care.
Dr. Daniel Hale, who leads the pediatric endocrinology and diabetes department at Penn State Children’s Hospital, revealed that this was not an isolated incident, as the boy had previously been hospitalized for similar issues in June.
In an affidavit, police wrote that only the boy’s father attended a diabetes education appointment the parents were asked to attend after the most recent hospitalization, WPMT reported. He reportedly told hospital staff that his wife “was home sleeping” because she “likes to sleep during the day and stay awake late into the night.”
The boy’s pediatrician said that records showed the parents had not refilled his long-term insulin since January.
“It is basically a miracle that the victim did not go into diabetic ketoacidosis many more times,” the doctor said, adding “it is medical opinion that there are concerns for medical neglect.”
The Diffendalls were arrested on November 14 and charged with one count each of endangering the welfare of children. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for November 26.
