Dennis Quaid expresses relief, anger after reading report on overdose
The California Department of Public Health has weighed in on the Nov. 18 accidental overdose of twins Zoe Grace and Thomas Boone, 9-weeks, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
In a new report, state regulators revealed that the then-newborn babies — born Nov. 8 via gestational surrogate to Dennis and Kimberly Quaid — were given 1,000 times the recommended dosage of the blood-thinning drug Heparin not once, but twice. Dennis, while "relieved" to finally hear a detailed account of what went wrong, nonetheless expressed anger that the hospital told the couple the overdose was administered just one time.
We find it outrageous and totally unacceptable that we are learning for the first time, along with anyone else who reads the newspaper, exactly what transpired.
According to the report, on the morning of Nov. 18 two pharmacy technicians delivered the wrong vials of heparin to the pediatric unit. Shortly thereafter, the hospital staff was attempting to flush the twin’s intravenous lines with their initial dose of the drug; A second dose was administered approximately eight hours later. Nurses told regulators that they could not recall reading the heparin labels. At some point, a doctor was alerted that the twins were oozing blood from the site of their IV’s as well as the heels of their feet, where nurses had earlier drawn blood. Once the mistake had been recognized, the twins were given an antidote to reverse the effects of the blood thinner. Said state regulators,
This violation involved multiple failures by the facility to adhere to established policies and procedures for safe medication. These violations caused, or were likely to cause, serious injury or death to the patients who received the wrong medication.
Known as a ‘deficiency’ report, the state’s findings do not carry with them an automatic fine. The hospital has 10-days to respond to the report, and state regulators can issue a fine at some point in the future if it is deemed appropriate. The Quaids have already filed a lawsuit against the makers of Heparin, claiming that the labels are confusingly similar despite the drastically different dosages.
Source: LA Times
- Posted on Jan 10, 08 at 11:40AM
- Permalink
- 6 Comments
January 10th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
This is so disturbing. On a positive note, I hope that because this happened to a celebrity, a lot more light has been brought to it and manufacturer’s will address the label issue immediately (among all the other faults involved)
January 10th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
I am literally at a loss for words.
January 10th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
What are the side effects of this happening? Will the babies be ok??
January 10th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
While I can understand why they would want to sue the manufacturer of Heparin, I would think they would first want to make sure things are right at the hospital! It seems like the nurses, who “couldn’t recall reading the label” weren’t doing their jobs and I would be livid with the hospital before the makers of the drug.
I wish them the best and hope the babies are completely recovered!
January 10th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
The manufacturers sent out a memo saying to read the labels of Heparin carefully, and this was BEFORE the Quaids filed a lawsuit. I still don’t understand why the filed it only against the manufacturers, and not the hospital and doctors. No matter who they sued, it would have gotten attention, but it’s not the fault of the manufacturers. The labels are clearly different anyway, I’ve seen them.
January 10th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
I heard that the Quaids came to a settlement with the hospital. So they did not have to sue them at all. It was all quiet and nobody is allowed to talk about the $ given.