Posted on 12/04/2007 3:28:51 PM PST by ShadowDancer
Quaids Sue Maker Of Blood Thinner
Actor's Twins Given Accidental Massive Dose
POSTED: 4:53 pm EST December 4, 2007
UPDATED: 5:21 pm EST December 4, 2007
LOS ANGELES -- Dennis Quaid and his wife sued the makers of heparin Tuesday after their newborn twins were inadvertently given massive doses of the blood thinner at a hospital.
The product liability lawsuit, filed in Chicago, seeks more than $50,000 in damages. It claims that Baxter Healthcare Corp., based in Deerfield, Ill., was negligent in packaging different doses of the product in similar vials with blue backgrounds.
The lawsuit also says the company should have recalled the large-dosage vials after overdoses killed three children at an Indianapolis hospital last year.
The lawsuit was first reported by CelebTV.com, which obtained the court documents.
A call to Baxter Healthcare Corp. seeking comment wasn't immediately returned.
The Quaids' children, Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace, and a third patient were at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Nov. 18 when they were mistakenly given vials of heparin that were 1,000 times stronger than the usual dosage.
The twins were home Tuesday and "appear to be doing well," said Susan E. Loggans, the Chicago attorney who filed the lawsuit. "The Quads are a religious family, and they really believe the prayers of the public saved their kids."
"Apparently, they're going to be fine now," she said but declined to otherwise comment on the children's medical conditions.
"The point of this case is to save other children from this fate. They're not looking for money," Loggans said of the lawsuit.
The Quaids didn't sue Cedars-Sinai, which acknowledged after the news broke that a "preventable error" had resulted in three patients receiving vials containing 10,000 units per milliliter of heparin instead of vials with a concentration of 10 units per milliliter.
The patients were receiving intravenous medications and the heparin was used to flush the catheters to prevent clotting.
Two of the patients needed a drug that reverses the effects of heparin, the hospital said at the time.
The hospital issued an apology to the patients' families, and said it would take "all steps" to prevent a recurrence.
The heparin was "unreasonably dangerous" as it was packaged and sold because both the small and large dosage vials had labels with blue backgrounds when the vials "should have been completely distinguishable (by) size and shape," the lawsuit argued.
A similar dosage error killed three premature infants at an Indianapolis hospital last year. Three others survived overdoses.
In February, Baxter Healthcare Corp. sent a letter warning health care workers to carefully read labels on the heparin packages to avoid a mix-up.
But the lawsuit by Quaid and his wife, Kimberly, argues that the company didn't do enough.
The company failed to recall the large-dosage vials after the infant deaths and repackage the drug, the lawsuit contends.
It said the manufacturer also should have issued an "urgent" warning to health care providers that required them to educate nurses and others about the problems and implement safety procedures.
So they aren't suing the people that actually made the "preventable error" but instead are suing the manufacturer for not doing more to prevent third parties from making preventable errors.
Based on what I’ve read about this case, I think the Quaids have legitimate beef with the manufacturer regarding the packaging. I think they also have a claim against the hospital, as its employee should have caught the different dosage before giving the heparin to the babies. Even though the Quaids didn’t sue the hospital, it will almost certainly be brought into the suit by the manufacturer.
It boggles the mind....
It would be far more reasonable for them to sue the hospital, then for the hospital to go after the manufacturer. I think their lawyer looked around and concluded that the manufacturer has the deeper pocket.
This certainly doesn’t seem to be a deep pockets issue, they’re only suing for $50,000.
Just over $50,000? I'm surprised anyone would sue for that little in a medical liability case. I bet Baxter would spend many times that amount defending against this suit. Perhaps the Quaids are more interested in getting the manufaturer to change its practices.
As a practical matter, I don’t think makes much difference. If they only sue one party, that party will bring any other parties in to spread the exposure around. The pleadings will look a little different, but the net result will be the same.
That makes sense. It’s not like it’s a large sum for either party.
I’d been looking for more information on this. I’m pleased that the babies have recovered.
They gave the babies the adult dose.
“What is probably also in the suit but not mentioned is a request for an injunction forcing the manufacturer to change its labeling to prevent future incidents and recall product already in the market stream. From what I see, the Quaids are doing a public service, but that doesn’t stop the knees from jerking here at FR.
You're right. The Quaids are doing a public service, and this situation must be corrected before more babies die.
What's a "wife"?
Who the parents or the Maker?
Crapola. The situation won't be corrected by changing the color of the label - fer gosh sakes, the label was clear about the strength of the dose. The only way to correct the situation is to fire the responsible individuals from the hospital, and hire replacements who can read simple English and follow directions. What's next after the labels are in different colors - a defense that the nurse "forgot" which color represented which dose, or a claim that color-blindness prevented them from recognising which was which? And don't tell me that's far-fetched - to a lawyer, such a claim would be "reasonable," and their job would be to convince a jury of idiots to agree.
I do believe the employees who did this bear the responsibility. If they don’t get fired, something should be done.
To a movie star, $50,000 is probably just pocket change and more of about the principle that the packaging does need to be changed. The two are too similar and could have resulted in someone’s death.
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