Dennis Quaid's Weird Legal Non-Move

Posted Mar 16th 2008 1:18PM by TMZ Staff

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center tried to cover-up a massive medical screw-up with Dennis Quaid's newborn kids, at least according to sources who spoke with TMZ when we first broke the story. So why the heck isn't Quaid suing the hospital?

As we first reported, after a Cedars nurse gave the kids several massive overdoses of the blood-thinning drug Heparin, they were spurting blood but Cedars never notified the parents. The kids are fine now, and the Quaids have sued the manufacturer of the drug, Baxter Heath Corp., for mislabeling -- but Cedars is not a defendant. Why the heck not, you ask?

We're told Quaid really wants to make a statement and it's not just about one hospital screw-up. The mislabeling problem has happened before -- sometimes with fatal results -- and Quaid wants to take a stand. But here's the deal. Sources tell us the hospital was holding meetings trying to figure out how to handle the problem at the same time they were keeping the info from the parents. What would you do?

Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Dennis Quaid

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(Page 1 of 5) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments

1. Do we sue him 'cause his movies suck?

Posted at 1:31PM on Mar 16th 2008 by FlBiker

2. The kis are okay, give it a rest. What an A-H

Posted at 1:32PM on Mar 16th 2008 by FlBiker

3. He should absolutely sue. The hospital had no right to keep info from them. They did it just to save their ass.

Posted at 1:34PM on Mar 16th 2008 by Cha Cha

4. It was the nurses responsibility to check the meds before administering it. The hospital should be sued.

Why should they "give it a rest" when their children nearly died?! The longer term effects may not be know for years and they could face huge medical costs for years to come. Yeah, they should sue!

Posted at 1:37PM on Mar 16th 2008 by Angie

5. I would sue the hospital as well as the manufacturer. As a Paramedic of over 12 years, we have meds in our drug box that are very similar, but one of the first things we're taught in our pharmacology class is, "CHECK THE LABEL!" It's the very first thing you do. I am very familiar with Heparin, and very much like Epinephrine, comes in different doses.
I feel the manufacturer should change the labeling, to something that is much different. I also feel the hospital should be sued as well, simply because it seems they tried to cover it up... shame on them. If they had been up front, told the parents what happened, and keep them involved with the healing process, I would feel differently.
I still feel with whatever happens, the hospital should do something, even if it's just reiterating the idea of "CHECKING THE LABEL"
Glad to hear the kids are fine though!

Just my $0.02 worth....

Posted at 1:38PM on Mar 16th 2008 by breezyjr

6. I think hes doing right, everyone makes mistakes but not everyone mislabels something and sells millions of it knowing, It happened before. You get your hand burned by a fire one do you treat the burn and then stick your hand back in. NO

Posted at 1:41PM on Mar 16th 2008 by kuntry_grl

7. A lawsuit against the hospital helps the children how?
There are no guarantees in life, deal with it.

Posted at 1:42PM on Mar 16th 2008 by FlBiker

8. fibiker evidently has no kids...think before you speak you idiot

Posted at 1:42PM on Mar 16th 2008 by kuntry_grl

9. What does the hospital know about the birth of the twins? The babies were delivered by a surrogate even though Dennis' wife is young. But loud reports say the kids are biologically theirs. Perhaps that is the reason...TMZ get behind this mystery.

As well as how it seems famous rich celebrities get pregnant after 45. Nancy Grace had twins with her own eggs? J-Lo? Nicole Kidman? Its a medical miracle. Whose eggs did Nicole use? J-Lo and Angie with twins? That means it all happened in a tube.

Posted at 1:44PM on Mar 16th 2008 by Victoria

10. FIBiker, do you have children? If so, do you have children with health issues? It is very costly, not to mention emotionaly draining.

The effects of brain bleeds may not be known for years and by then time will have ran out to sue. They have to think of the kids future. I see nothing wrong with that.

Posted at 1:47PM on Mar 16th 2008 by Angie

11. As a nurse, I'm trained to check,check, and check once again the dosage of medication I'm giving. There's something we learn in nursing school, and it's the called the " 5 rights" of medication administration. 1. Right Patient 2. Right Medication 3. Right Route 4. Right Time and in this case, 5. Right Dose And just a note...there are some medications such as insulin that require another nurse to double check dosage. Maybe heparin can be incorporated into the list.

Posted at 1:47PM on Mar 16th 2008 by chris

12. In the 80s I remember a Bloom County comic strip. The theme was Sean Penn punching out a Pap and wanting to litigate. Opus was the Pap. The point was not for the photographer to sue Penn, but to sue Kodak because it made the camera in the first place. Shear lunacy I know, but sometimes going after the monolithic corporations get more results financially. I see what Quaid is doing.

Posted at 1:51PM on Mar 16th 2008 by jbird

13. The kids are not gonna be too bright anyway, low hanging fruit.

Posted at 1:52PM on Mar 16th 2008 by FlBiker

14. Sue their ass for the maximum amount that you can. There are no excuses for this screwup!!

Posted at 1:52PM on Mar 16th 2008 by Lenn K.

15. At his age it will be cute, they will all be in diapers at the same time.

Posted at 1:57PM on Mar 16th 2008 by FlBiker

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