Dennis Quaid Recounts Twins’ Medical Peril

17 Mar Dennis Quaid Recounts Twins’ Medical Peril

On a touching edition of 60 Minutes, actor Dennis Quaid and wife Kimberly shared the pain, fear and drama their family endured when their newborn twins, Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace, were given lethal amounts of a blood thinner as the result of a medical mistake in November. Hospitalized for routine antibiotics and treatment of a staph infection shortly after birth, Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace were supposed to receive a pediatric blood thinner by IV, and instead received two doses of the adult-strength Heparin. Quaid told viewers, “It was ten units that our kids are supposed to get. They got 10,000. And what it did is, it basically turned their blood to the consistency of water, where they had a complete inability to clot. And they were basically bleeding out at that point.”
The Quaids, who had gone home assured that the kids would be fine overnight, were not aware of any problems until arriving at the hospital the next morning to be met at the door by the pediatrician, head nurse, the hospital’s attorneys, and a wash of chaos that ensued for more than 40 hours. After 12 days in the hospital, the twins were finally released to go home.

Quaid told correspondent Steve Kroft that the issue of medical mistakes and malpractice has slipped under the public’s radar. “It’s bigger than AIDS. It’s bigger than breast cancer. It’s bigger than automobile accidents. And, yet, no one seems to be really be aware of the problem.” Watch the 60 Minutes Interview with Dennis and Kimberly Quaid.

Though the twins luckily survived the incident, a similar accident in Indianapolis the year before killed three of six infants also given Heparin. Medical mistakes are far too common and often go unreported. If you or someone you know has been the unfortunate victim of medical malpractice or negligence, contact a Medical Malpractice Attorney.