Dennis Quaid's Weird Legal Non-Move

31. I think you should change the voting option to HELL, YES!!!

Posted at 3:30PM on Mar 16th 2008 by rrose70

32. 1. There was no 'mislabeling' of the meds. There was a gross MISReading of the label by the RN.
2. Which leads to problem #3: Most NICU's in America have most, sometimes all, of the necessary lighting turned off/dimmed/blunted due to some vague 'developmental theorist' named Heidelise Als, founder of the NIDCAP program at Harvard. This lady has hoodwinked every neonatal unit in America into turning off all the lights in the NICU's; safety be damned. She is not a licensed physician or licensed RN, but a Phd who talked her way into Harvard's NICU to experiment on your infant. NICU RN's throughout the U.S. cannot see what they are doing in the darkend units. And yes, they're drawing up meds, morphine, heparin, digoxin, and other toxic meds without adequate lighting in the NICU. Nice.

Medication errors do not happen in repeated cadences and clustered events such as Quaid's babies(2). Another situation is at fault here, just like the 4 NICU infant's killed in Indianapolis due to heparin overdoses; something in the workplace is interfering with safe delivery of care; ie: inadequate light, RN's being mandated to work in the dark. Very simple stuff.

The parents and attorney's need to investigage the llighting situation that was in effect at the time of the errors; and sue the hell out of Harvard's PHD experimenter. And yes, there will be more heparin OD's to come in an NICU near you. Mark my word.

Next time your infant is in an NICU; demand that the nurses work with adequate lighting.

Good luck to the Quaids; good to know all turned out OK; this time.

Posted at 11:29PM on Mar 17th 2008 by 23 YEAR NICU RN

33. If their children's physicians are affiliated with the hospital they may not want to sue. They'd have to change doctors.
It's also possible that they like Cedars and once you sue, you can never go back.

Posted at 4:08PM on Mar 16th 2008 by Alexa

34. If he sues the drug company he will get more money and the hospital needs to fire the staff that was respondsible for the overdose.

Posted at 4:21PM on Mar 16th 2008 by Caturday

35. there was no mislabeling just very shoddy work on the part of the pharmacy and the HCPs that dosed the kids. The bottle labels are actually noticeably different if the staff had just taken the time to look at the labels instead of the back of the bottles. Most hospitals use LIMS (barcoding) to help track dispensing and dosing of these meds, many require a co-signer to verify what was given- I'm shocked Cedars hasn't implemented this system (even more shocked if they did because that would mean the negligence was willful). I've lost respect for Quaid for suing Baxter (and I'm no fan of Baxter's) and lost even more for him when he didn't sue Cedars for gross malpractice. Suing the hospital would make a stand in this case.

Posted at 4:57PM on Mar 16th 2008 by oc

36. Whether Quaid sues them or not Cedars will almost certainly be brought in by the drug company as a third party defendant. So their role is going to be addressed one way or another.

Posted at 5:35PM on Mar 16th 2008 by Jenny

37. How about hiring nurses that can read???

Posted at 6:27PM on Mar 16th 2008 by cookie

38. I am very familiar with this case and I can tell you that there were NO MISLABELLING issues with the Baxter Haparin administered to the Quaid twins.
Both vials have blue (different shades) on the labels and were both the same size, but one had a bright orange ring around the cap and they are clearly labeled as different medications with vastly different doses and insrtuctions. This was a mistake due to hospital negligence. The first mistake at the hospital was that the 10000 unit vials for adults was brought down to the NICU. It had no place there in the first place. The second mistake was that the nurse administering the drug assumed because it was in the 10 unit slot in the meds room that it was the correct med. He/she did not check the medication upon removing it from the shelf. Mistake three was that the nurse administering the med didn't double check that it was the correct med. This should have been caught right away when the dept that should have gotten the adult dose didn't receive it, should have notified central pharmacy to do a trace. So many people didn't do as they were trained. So sad the reprecussions....

Posted at 6:42PM on Mar 16th 2008 by nat

39. The vials were NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT mislabeled. Report this correctly. They were properly labeled. The concern is that the 2 vials are not significantly different and makes it easier to be mixed up. Requests that the label color be drastically different, etc. These vials have been used forever. This is a case of OPERATOR error. A careless nurse stocked the meds improperly and then another careless nurse just used a vial without checking it at all. HELLO????????? She could have injected anything into those children. Who doesn't check the vials??????????????????? This is extremely scary!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted at 6:50PM on Mar 16th 2008 by Baxter Employee

40. It might save future patients from the same mistake.

IN RESPONSE TO: 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

Posted at 7:14PM on Mar 16th 2008 by Sabrina

41. I agree with #16 (Carolyn). I think I'd probably sue the hospital, but It would be most likely to due to the conspiracy and the cover-up. The hospital was clearly negligent in not notifying the parents as soon as a problem had been discovered. Those babies were probably in distress long before it was discovered that a medicine error had occurred. As a parent, I am appalled that this would happen.


16. He's taking a principled stand, but the hospital's actions were conspiratorial and not in the patients' best interests. So I wouldn't let Cedars-Sinai off the hook (and neither should Britney Spears!).

Posted at 1:57PM on Mar 16th 2008 by Carolyn (Abernathy)

Posted at 7:14PM on Mar 16th 2008 by Sabrina

42. First of all, I'm so happy the Quaids were able to save their children.
We were not so lucky when we lost a healthy 3 yr old boy many years ago to intestinal cancer? To this day, I suspect the medication prescribed was in correct. My son was sick for 21 days from start to finish.
The doctors laughed when they gave me a diaper to dry my tears. I'll never forget it.

Posted at 8:01PM on Mar 16th 2008 by peter a paoni

43. don't most people sue because they need or want the money? He has all the money he will ever need, so simply making a statement and going on 60 mintues about it will shed more light on the subject than a lawsuit would ever do. Good for him.

Posted at 7:25PM on Mar 16th 2008 by oscar

44. That's true. Research has shown that 1.5 MILLION people are injured each year as a result of the wrong medication or dosage being given to patients in hospitals. Those statistics are from 2006, and they only represent the errors that have been reported. It happens to people every day from all walks of life. This is a major issue that needs to be addressed.

Patients also need to be proactive while in the hospital. Ask questions when you're given meds about what it is, what it's for, what the dosage is, etc. If someone hands you a pill that isn't like what you've been taking.....ASK QUESTIONS. If someone comes to give you a shot and it isn't time for your meds, ask about it. Keep a log if you have to.

In Response to: 22. I HAVE SEEN HOSPITALS AND STAFF GO TO GREAT LENGTHS TO HIDE ERRORS. NURSES AND DOCTORS ARE EQUALLY GUILTY. IN THIS CASE I AM SURE THE NURSES PICKED UP THE HEPARIN VIAL AND ASSUMED THAT THE PHARMACY HAD STOCKED THE CORRECT DOSE IN THE MED ROOM DRAWER AND THE NURSE FAILED TO DOUBLE CHECK THE DOSE WITH ANOTHER NURSE. THIS IS A POLICY WITH THIS DRUG AND OTHER POWEFUL DRUGS SUCH AS INSULIN IN EVERY HOSPITAL I HAVE WORKED IN FOR 30 YRS.

Posted at 2:53PM on Mar 16th 2008 by retired rn

Posted at 7:27PM on Mar 16th 2008 by Sabrina

45. Hospitals have charitable immunity which means there is a cap on how much he can recover. There is no cap on suing drug companies. Also, the parents can sue until the twins' 18th birthday. The twins have two years from their 18th birthday to sue as adults. Personally, I feel both the hospital and the drug company should be named in the lawsuit. The drug was administered on the hospital's premises by hospital employees.

Posted at 7:29PM on Mar 16th 2008 by rosemar