Dennis Quaid Settles With Cedars Over Twins' O.D.
Natalie Finn – Mon Dec 15, 11:58 pm ET
Los Angeles (E! Online)
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is looking to clear up any bad blood with Dennis Quaid. According to court documents obtained by E! News, Quaid and his wife Kimberly have accepted a settlement of $750,000 from the Los Angeles hospital, which last year took responsibility for giving the babies a life-threatening overdose of blood thinners.
Zoe Grace and Thomas Boone Quaid, now both 1, were being treated at Cedars for staph infections in November 2007 when an employee accidentally administered dosages of heparin (commonly used to flush out I.V.s) that were 1,000-times the recommended amounts for newborns, 10,000 units per millileter apiece instead of the standard 10.
Cedars was fined $25,000 earlier this year by the California Department of Public Health for "multiple failures by the facility to adhere to established policies and procedures for safe medication use."
Though they never sued Cedars, the Quaids, blaming poorly labeled bottles, sued heparin manufacturer Baxter Healthcare Corporation for negligence last December.
Quaid also testified before Congress in May against a proposed statute that would make it more difficult for patients to take pharmaceutical companies to court.
Once a judge signs off on the Quaids' deal with Cedars, the couple will no longer be able to pursue litigation against the hospital as part of a good-faith stipulation in the settlement, although they could sue on their children's behalf for future consequences of the accident.
The Cedars settlement does not affect the Quaids' lawsuit against Baxter.
2 comments:
This case angered me sooo much. Cedar-Sinai are a bunch of idiots. As a nurse, I'm wondering...why would you even have that massive dose of Heparin in the NICU (baby intensive care) department. There would be NO reason for it! Shame on the hospital for allowing it. Shame on the pharmacy for stocking it.
And the NURSES!!! Hello?!? Heparin is considered a "danger" drug. When you give it, you have to have another nurse sign off. For example, I draw the heparin in my syringe, with another nurse verifying the drug, the dose and the person I'm giving it to. According to Dennis Quaid, his baby got the drug THREE TIMES!!! That means SIX nurses failed to realize the difference. Argh! Shame, shame, shame on the idiot nurses!!!!!
Grrrr
Goes to show, no amount of quality control can account for the idiots of the world. They will FIND A WAY to screw things up...no matter what field you are in. :)
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