Dennis Quaid's Newborn Twins in Medical Nightmare

TMZ has learned that Dennis Quaid's newborn twins are fighting for their lives after being inadvertently overdosed at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Sources tell us the twins -- Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace -- were accidentally given a massive dose of Heparin, an anti-coagulant. Babies typically get 10 units. Our sources say they were each mistakenly given 10,000 units. The drug is used to flush out IV lines and prevent blood clots. We're told one dose was given on Sunday morning, another on Sunday evening.

We're told late Sunday night, both babies started to "bleed out." Both babies are now at Cedars in the neo-natal intensive care unit where we're told they are stable.

The twins were born to Quaid and wife Kimberly Buffington November 8 via surrogate.

A rep for Quaid did not immediately return our call for comment and there was no immediate comment from Cedars.

We're told a technician stored the Heparin in the wrong place, and when a nurse grabbed the medicine for the babies without looking -- it was the wrong dosage.

A source says the babies are now being given Protamine, which reverses the effects of Heparin.

UPDATE: We're told as many as thirteen patients at Cedars were mistakenly given the overdose of Heparin, but the effects are more critical because of the age and weight of the twins.

Story developing ...

Reader Comments

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526. I buried my newborn twins 2 years ago today. There is nothing worse in the world. I hope these babies pull through.

Posted at 9:43PM on Nov 21st 2007 by Dana Stuart

527. What is with #9 BAM BAM how insensitive can you get. I truly don't understand our society anymore. Where did compassion go?? I wish and pray for Dennis Quaid and his wife and his beautiful babies. That God will hold them in his hands and grace them with a full recovery. To be given God's greatest gift and then have it taken away is awful. I am the mother of twins and can't imagine my life with out them. I hope the Quaid's get the chance to raise their TWINS!!!

Posted at 10:03PM on Nov 22nd 2007 by marianne

528. Oh that's HORRRRRRIBLE!!!! My God, I thought Cedars-Sinai was a good hospital. Those nurses and doctors really need to go back to KINDERGARTEN and learn math! I mean, that's bull! There's no excuse whatsoever in a math error like that. It just goes to show how truly decrepit our medical system is for ALL of us-even the rich and famous are no longer immune; just ask Kanye West about that. I hope Dennis' babies and the other victims of that "mistake" pull through. Also, I hope Dennis and the other families involved sue Cedars-Sinai like hell! There is absolutely no excuse for those babies and the other people that were overdosed to be going through such a catastrophe.

Posted at 11:27PM on Nov 21st 2007 by Clr2Sea

529. This is a lawsuit waiting to happen. God bless those babies and the parents.

Posted at 1:02AM on Nov 22nd 2007 by Lynn

530. This story is sure different than the statement that Cedars gave. The above story says thirteen, the below statement says three. Which is true? It is copy/paste below: It came from TMZ.com Moviefone
Statement From Michael L. Langberg, MD Chief Medical Officer, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

On November 18, three patients who were receiving intravenous medications as part of their treatment had their IV catheters flushed with a solution containing a higher concentration of heparin (a medication used to keep IV catheters from clotting) than normal protocol. As a result of a preventable error, the patients' IV catheters were flushed with heparin from vials containing a concentration of 10,000 units per milliliter instead of from vials containing a concentration of 10 units per milliliter.

The error was identified by Cedars-Sinai staff, who immediately performed blood tests on the patients to measure blood clotting function. Four additional patients in the unit were tested as a precaution. The tests indicated that four of the seven patients had normal blood clotting function, and three had tests indicating prolonged blood clotting function. In one of the three patients, the clotting tests returned quickly to normal. The other two patients were given protamine sulfate, a drug that reverses the effects of heparin and helps restore blood clotting function to normal. Additional medical tests and clinical evaluation conducted on the two patients indicated no adverse effects from the higher concentration of heparin or from the temporary abnormal clotting function. Doctors continue to monitor the patients.

I want to extend my deepest apologies to the families who were affected by this situation, and we will continue to work with them on any concerns or questions they may have. This was a preventable error, involving a failure to follow our standard policies and procedures, and there is no excuse for that to occur at Cedars-Sinai. Although it appears at this point that there was no harm to any patient, we take this situation very seriously. We are conducting a comprehensive investigation, cooperating fully with the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and will take all necessary steps to ensure that this never happens here again.

Posted at 7:26PM on Nov 22nd 2007 by Donna Elder

531. Let's hope this incident is recognized throughout all communities as a WAKE UP CALL...the medical profession has gone downhill since the introduction of HMOs, etc., and continues to go down. Mistakes are made daily and repeatedly with human lives and seem to be treated by the medical professionals as if they were working on machinery vs. humans. This incident is a disgrace and uncalled for. Why would any nurse not check medication thoroughly especially on not one, but four patients? Her license should be revoked and she should do jail time IMO, and the hospital should be sued up the giggie. Hopefully the twins will recover and be well, No thanks to Cedars!

Posted at 8:36AM on Nov 23rd 2007 by Maria

532. As a nurse, I'm horrified by this. I don't care who stocked the Heparin the wrong place, or that it's hard to read so it's a "common mistake" as stated above. The nurse who gave the overdose of Heparin needs to go back to nursing school to refresh her memory about the "5 Rights" when you give medications. It's been a while, but I'm pretty sure they still teach that on... like... DAY ONE and every day after that. This kind of thing makes us all look bad... even the best of nurses.

Posted at 5:14PM on Nov 25th 2007 by Shelley M

533. I feel sorry for the nurse. Nobody is perfect and I don't think any of us could say we've never made a mistake at work. It's just our mistakes don't cost the lives of newborn babies. That entire department will be haunted by this for a long time, and they'll definitely be double-checking labels from now on.

It's an unfortunate consequence of the nursing shortage that they're overworked and prone to these errors. Keep blaming medical staff and suing them every opportunity you people get, and you've made the nursing shortage problem worse, not better. Let's pray for the babies instead of blaming people when we don't even know what happened.

Posted at 6:42PM on Nov 25th 2007 by jk

534. So much ignorance really bothers me in the general public... Giving an infant heparin would be they have a Central line, that is to be flushed to keep it from clotting off. I don't work at Cedars but I would imagine that heparin is in a prefilled syringe sent up by pharmacy, As so many drugs are single dose. A nurse flushes numerous lines per shift, Unless you are a nurse you will never know the pressure that you are under. I feel so badly for this nurse. Nurses love people and Neonatal ICU nurses love babies. In whatever job you are in, from cashier to accountant you make mistakes on a daily basis, but when a nurse makes a mistake and can be life or death. Nurses are just like you, we have personal lives also, family problems, but we work in a position that you haven't ever experiences. I catch many errors every day, and save lives... If you fire every dr. or nurse that has ever made an error. Then you take care of yourselves. I think is is interesting how many of you way PRAY for the babies, but then spew such hate. WOW
WWJD.

Posted at 8:34AM on Nov 27th 2007 by nurse

535. I hope the babies are OK....but my heart does go out to the nurse who inadvertently administered the med. RNs are so overworked and understaffed that mistakes unfortunately do happen.

Posted at 9:27PM on Nov 26th 2007 by Yayyay

536. God love those poor babies. Hopefully everything will turn out Ok in the end. My prayers and thoughts are with the family.

For all of you yelling about nurses not paying attention. Take a step back and think about the nurses that are really great people. When I had my daughter I had one nurse who really wasn't that attentive and actually gave up trying to give me an IV in my arm and shoved it in my wrist. Which was painful and very uncomfortable through out the entire labor. I also had a nurse that was wonderful...she talked me through everything and didnt leave my side until it was over. Unfortunately theres not too many good people left in this world that care like that, but theres a fwe out there god bless them.

Posted at 3:01PM on Nov 27th 2007 by KelHil

537. Dear Dennis and Kimberly,
God bless you and continue to give you the strength for what He has asked of you to face. My son traveled with you, Dennis, on a trip to Belize once. His name is Gary and I believe one of the things you talked about was how you wanted to homeschool your son in Montana. Well, anyway, that leads me to have somewhat of a interest in you and so I, being a missionary in Brazil, do send up my prayers to the One who can take care of everything. I pray for you and your wife's peace of mind concerning the outcome of the twins lives, but if the Lord wants to continue to trust you and bless you with these children, He surely will heal them.
Lots of love in Jesus' Name,
Catherine

Posted at 4:24AM on Nov 28th 2007 by Catherine

538. This very same thing happened at Clarian-Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis earlier this year. Yes the labels are very much the same - however we are trained to #1 read the label when we pick out the medication - #2 read the label again once we draw it into the syringe and #3 read again before replacing/destroying the vial we have drawn from.

Posted at 8:46PM on Nov 29th 2007 by slmkimm

539. Um, Paula from post #528...I think you better re-read history: Meg Ryan cheated on Dennis Quaid with Russell Crowe...and then Crowe dumped her like a hot potato.

And this has nothing to do with Meg Ryan & Dennis Quaid's relationship. This has everything to do with two precious lives that are in precarious danger.

Dennis, Kimberly and twins, you have our prayers and support.

Posted at 2:17PM on Nov 29th 2007 by The Big Easy

540. Why is there always a prejudice remark made out of everything? Bam Bam? There's always an idiot in every croud! If people like you'd stop living the past. Which happened with all of our ancesters. Not YOU AND not ME! This would be a much better world to live in. And all races could get along. But like I say, people like you carry this chip on your shoulder as if you lived in the past.. And want to blame innocent white people. We can't change what happened back then. So could you please stop hating us white people of today. We didn't do anything.
And to the babies to which this was suppose to be all about. God Bless YOU and your PARENTS. And all the others that had this happen to. Hope you all fully recover.

Posted at 12:40AM on Dec 2nd 2007 by can-we-all-be-zebras

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