Actor Dennis Quaid and his wife have filed a lawsuit against drug maker, Baxter Healthcare Corp., for a drug mix-up that almost killed their newborn twins in 2007. The twins, Zoe Grace and Thomas Boone, were given the blood thinner, Heparin, instead of the lower dose, Hep-lock. Both drugs are made by Baxter and have similar packaging and are in similar vials with a blue background and small print on the labels.
According to a Contra Costa Times article, the twins received near fatal doses of Heparin to treat a staph infection – 10,000 units of Heparin rather than the 10 units of Hep-Lock they were supposed to receive, says the complaint. The babies began bleeding out at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with blood coming from every orifice and that’s how their parents found them when they entered the room. They suffered internal injuries and shock, but appear to have recovered, though the complaint says the extent of long-term injuries will not be known for years.
The complaint, filed Friday, May 21, in Los Angeles Superior Court, says that Baxter Healthcare should have recalled the vials and fixed the labeling problem after other infants had died from similar medication errors. After those deaths, Baxter understood that the same-looking vials and labels could cause confusion, yet the drugs remained on hospital shelves.
Newborns are often given Hep-Lock to flush their intravenous lines instead of Heparin.
There is no dollar amount specified in the lawsuit. Deerfield Illinois-based Baxter Healthcare Corp. is a unit of Baxter International Inc.
Florida Heparin lawyers realize that this case is not just about blaming Baxter, but about holding drug companies accountable for their mistakes and encouraging them to make the safest drugs complete with clear labels possible. Baxter tried to have the lawsuit that was filed in Illinois dismissed in 2008 with the argument that drugs and their labels are approved by the federal government. That argument went nowhere but the action in Illinois was dismissed on jurisdictional grounds in 2008.
The Quaids sued Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and reportedly signed off on a $750,000 settlement with the hospital without it admitting any wrongdoing.
The twins’ overdose is an example of the estimated 100,000 fatalities stemming from medical errors that occur every year in American hospitals and from pharmaceuticals.
