Actor Dennis Quaid has sued Baxter Healthcare Corp., the manuracturer of Heparin, for negligence in not properly labeling its product. From the Contra Costa Times:

Actor Dennis Quaid sues drug maker

Actor Dennis Quaid and his wife Kimberly have filed a lawsuit against a drug maker alleging similar labels for the blood thinner Heparin and a less potent drug caused a mix-up at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center threatening the lives of his newborn twins in 2007.

Quaid filed the lawsuit Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of his children against Baxter Healthcare Corp. The suit seeks unspecified damages.

Both Heparin and the lower dose version, Hep-lock, are packaged in similar vials with blue backgrounds and very small print on both labels, according to the complaint.

Quaid’s twins, who were born in November 2007, were both administered multiple near-fatal doses of Heparin to treat staph infections, according to the lawsuit.

The children, Zoe Grace and Thomas Boone, were given 10,000 units of Heparin, rather than the 10 units of Hep-Lock they were prescribed, according to the complaint.

Baxter Healthcare should have recalled the vials of Heparin containing 10,000 units because the company knew infants had died because of similar medication errors, according to the lawsuit.

The company also was obligated to warn healthcare providers of the previous medication mistakes, the suit states.

The children suffered internal injuries and shock, but the extent of what happened to them will probably not be known for years, according to the suit.

Newborns and infants are often given Hep-Lock to flush their prevent clotting because their intravenous lines are so small . . . .

The twins’ overdose is just one of the estimated 100,000 fatalities stemming from medical errors that occur every year in American hospitals and from pharmaceuticals. If you or a loved one have been injured by medical malpractice or through a medication errorand would like to talk with an experienced Nebraska defective drug lawyer, call the Keating, O’Gara Law Firm at 888/234-0621 for a free consultation.