Actor Sues Drug Maker On Behalf Of His Children

Dennis Quaid has filed a lawsuit against Baxter Healthcare Corp. Baxter is a drug maker using similar labels for the blood thinner Heparin and a less potent drug, Quaid claims that the blood thinning drug contained Baxter that cause a mix-up that threatened the lives of his newborn twins in 2007.

Dennis and his wife said the Baxter International Inc. unit is liable for injuries the children suffered when they were wrongly injected with the more powerful drug in a Los Angeles hospital last month, according to a complaint filed today in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago.

The twins were born in 2007. Both were administered multiple adult doses of Heparin to treat staph infections. Zoe Grace and Thomas Boone, are the Dennis’ children, where they were given 10,000 units of Heparin, rather than the 10 units of Hep-Lock there were prescribed. Baxter Healthcare, knowing that infants have died because of similar medication errors, should have recalled the vials of Heparin containing the 10,000 units. The company was also told to warn healthcare providers of the previous medication mistakes.

The twins suffered internal injuries and shock, but the extent of what happened to them will probably not be known for years. Newborns and infants are often given Hep-Lock to prevent clotting because their intravenous lines are so small.