Aug. 24, 2008
Dennis Quaid Recounts Twins' Drug Ordeal
Actor Tells 60 Minutes' Steve Kroft Medical Errors Kill Thousands
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The Wrong Medicine
Dennis Quaid's newborn twins nearly died when they were mistakenly given a drug overdose. The actor and his wife share their story to draw attention to hospital mistakes that kill as many as 100,000 Americans a year. Steve Kroft reports.
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Dennis Quaid (CBS)
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Chances are you probably know someone who has died, or nearly died, because of medical mistakes in a hospital. It's much more common than most people realize, and if it can happen to the children of movie star, at one of the finest hospitals in the country, it can happen to anyone.
Dennis Quaid has starred in more than 50 films, but nothing prepared him for the drama and the near tragedy that unfolded last November at Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles, when his infant twins were given massive overdoses of a blood thinner that nearly killed them.
When 60 Minutes first broadcast this story in the spring, Quaid and his wife, Kimberly, had kept most of their thoughts and many of the details private. They decided then to talk about what happened, what caused it, and what needs to be done to keep it from happening to somebody else.
"It was the scariest, most frightening day that I think either of us have ever been through, to come face to face with your little kids who - so young in that kinda situation," Quaid tells correspondent Steve Kroft.
And few couples had tried harder to have kids than Dennis and Kimberly Quaid. They had suffered through five miscarriages, before finally turning to a surrogate to carry, what turned out to be twins, Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace, conceived with the Quaids' own sperm and eggs.
But within a few days of coming home, the twins showed signs of a having a staph infection and doctors recommended they be admitted to Cedars-Sinai hospital for routine treatment with intravenous antibiotics.Photos: Dennis Quaid
On their second day there, the Quaids were told that the babies were doing fine, so they went home to get a few hours of rest, leaving instructions to be called if there were any problems. But around 9 p.m. that night, Kimberly Quaid had a mother's premonition that something had gone wrong.
"I just had this horrible feeling come over me and I felt like that the babies were passing. And I just had this feeling of dread," she recalls.
"Kimberly even made a note at the time that she had the feeling, for some reason," Dennis Quaid adds. "And I called the room. And I was put through to the nurse who was in our room with the kids. And I said, 'How are the kids?' And she said, 'They're fine. They're just fine.'"
But Quaid says they weren't fine.
In fact, around the time of the call, the nurses had discovered that both twins were in serious danger. They were supposed to have been given a pediatric blood thinner called Hep-lock to flush out their IV lines and prevent blood clots. But instead, they had been given two doses of Heparin, the adult version of the drug, which is 1,000 times stronger.
"We all have this inherent thing that we trust doctors and nurses, that they know what they're doing. But this mistake occurred right under our noses, that the nurse didn't bother to look at the dosage on the bottle," Dennis Quaid tells Kroft. "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."
"There was blood oozing out of little blood draws on their feet, and things like that, you know, through band-aids," he adds.
Quaid says that's what first alerted the nurse that there was a problem.
Produced by Ira Rosen
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See all 246 CommentsYes, helmets are important and kids shouldn"t be breathing second-hand smoke but clearly there are more deaths caused at hospitals than kids dying because they weren''t in a car seat. Too many people accept any activism without asking crucial questions as long as it''s for the children, clean air, water, etc.
Wake up Amurrica! Quit letting the Agenda Do-Gooders take your attention away from the things that matter most.
Why isn''t anyone jumping on the FDA?
You know .. the people that are supposed to be responsible for drug safety, labeling etc?
540,000 bicyclists visit emergency rooms with injuries every year. Of those, about 67,000 have head injuries. Seems to me to be prudent to discuss head injury and wearing helmets. As well as 2nd hand smoke, and medical errors.
Caliengineer,
What is needed in not success against the industry, but cooperative work between the public, industry, hospitals and healthcare workers to make medical care as safe as possible. Remember all are human, make mistakes, and hopefully people will work together to solve the problems.
Tylenol or aspirin will kill you if you give it in the wrong dosage, as will almost any other medicine manufactured in the world today. He clearly doesn''t know what he''s talking about.
Secondly, the mistake did not occur because the vials look the same. The mistake occurred because a nurse didn''t properly verify the contents of the vial before administering the medicine. Place the blame where it belongs.
This man clearly doesn''t know what he''s talking about. If he has accepted the argument, "the vials looked the same, that''s why this happened", (and it appears that he actually has) then he''s been duped and suckered.
NO, they don''t "look alike". Similar perhaps, but the labels are very different. One is spelled H-E-P L-O-C-K and the other H-E-P-A-R-I-N.
Nurses should follow the five "rights" of medication administration to avoid medication errors: the right patient, the right drug, the right dose, the right time, and the right route before giving any medication.
You think that was done in this case? No way. This is something that is drilled into every nursing student constantly. Practically from day one of nursing school until they graduate.
No way is Baxter to blame in this case. How is suing them going to accomplish anything? It doesn''t matter what color the vial is/was. The nurse still has to READ the label to make sure it is the correct drug.
The blame clearly falls on the nurse who failed to read the label before administering the drug.
Quaid get a new lawyer.
The medical industry is like any other---some members of it perform exemplary and others dismally. The major problem though, is in this business, if you screw up, someone could die! Therefore, it''s absolutely incumbent on all personnel to check and re-check what they do so that 100,000 death figure can be decreased this year and thereafter!
But the same hospital hysterically carries on about bicycle helmets, car seat training for new parents, the dangers of tobacco, alcohol, and republicans to the newborn, and a host of other matters that takes time that should be spent saving lives.
Yes, helmets are important and kids shouldn"t be breathing second-hand smoke but clearly there are more deaths caused at hospitals than kids dying because they weren''''t in a car seat. Too many people accept any activism without asking crucial questions as long as it''''s for the children, clean air, water, etc.
Wake up Amurrica! Quit letting the Agenda Do-Gooders take your attention away from the things that matter most.
Posted by koffeebeaned at 07:02 PM : Mar 13, 2008
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If they didn''t do those politically correct things they would be accused of being an *unfeeling corporate entity* .. they still are but all those feel good things keep the teddy bear huggers at a distance.
That being said, it''s disgusting how the AMA & medical profession dont tell the public or their patients how many times they screw up & the truth to "practicing" medicine....oh that''s right if they were paid for performance or we knew how much was "practice/best effort" as opposed to knowing.....they wouldnt be paid the big bucks...it''s only fair to command such high salaries right?...they had to go school for so long...
Simon1113...wish I could get your email address to compare stories...similar thing happened to me.
If you believe in the separation of church and state you should also believe in separation of medical care and state. Eliminate Medicare and Medicaid. Eliminate doctor licensing (allow competition). Eliminate drug patents (government granted monopolies). Eliminate malpractice lawsuits in government courts (so doctors and nurses will not have to practice defensive medicine). Magically the cost of medical care will plummet and the quality and patient satisfaction will increase dramatically.
That being said, it''s disgusting how the AMA & medical profession dont tell the public or their patients how many times they screw up & the truth to "practicing" medicine....oh that''s right if they were paid for performance or we knew how much was "practice/best effort" as opposed to knowing.....they wouldnt be paid the big bucks...it''s only fair to command such high salaries right?...they had to go school for so long...
Please Mr Quaid you have the visability we didn''t have. Our hospital was UCLA and no one wanted to tarnish their name. We need to realize even good hospitals can use some fine tuning. And manufacturers need to think more of human life and less about the expense.
That may help stem the Quaid-type mistakes. But there is another cause of treatment accidents, traceable to hospital management and its poor attitude to the problem of safety and quality vs. work output.
Nurses like "limobarbie" (post below) are telling the unvarnished truth-- hospitals have become as greedy and careless as any WalMart to their employees, where overwork is everyone''s lot. Nurses are literally run through their workweek until they drop in-harness-- become ill, or leave in disgust or fear they will hurt a patient.
We might think HMOs realize a safer hospital means more profit, and fewer problems for which litigation is the frequent result. But the values by which HMOs continue to operate champion bottom-line profit, not patient safety-- no matter how nice the parient information brochures look.
Your statement is ridiculous, the children suffered, not Mr. Quaid.
That you don''t like the man because of his somewhat standoffish personality does not mean that his sadness is a result of karma.
I have eaten at the same Denny''s several times, and I must say that the quality of service, or lack thereof, is also legendary. I have been brought cold food, after waiting for half an hour when the place was not crowded, and was told that if I didn''t like it, I should take my business elsewhere.
I have watched people who came in after me have their orders taken and delivered before I was allowed to order. On one visit,I was with my boss, a well known music artist, and we couldn''t eat for the people asking for autographs, staff included. One even asked for several, for his friends. None of the stall would even try to help us enjoy our meal in peace.
Tips are also earned, you should consider that when someone doesn''t leave a tip, it is usually for good reason.
The attending physician or other managing professional is instructed to inform the patient''s family with a poor prognosis-- "I am sorry, but the outlook is not the best. We''''ll do what we can, of course, but it appears all four wheels have fallen off. It will be difficult."
What a blow to an anxious family! What a failure of the oath to do no harm! At hearing such a report, family members have been known to become ill, as a result. But as the seminar tells medical professionals, it is all to the good. They are given the following explanation--
"If you promise the moon, but deliver coal and ashes, you probably will be sued by angry relatives, regardless of the effort you made and difficulty of the case. If you promise little or nothing-- yes, even advise of the worst-- but deliver something, anyway, and maybe even the sun and moon, combined, you will be hailed as a miracle worker. Your fees will be received with gratitude, not scrutiny."
Patients and Patient Families, Beware!
The medical community for the last decade has been blitzed by little-publicized, traveling "legal seminars"-- these professing to help medical professionals avoid litigation.
As innocent as that sounds, some the methods taught by the seminars are anything but defensive. They cause needless pain and suffering, and are based upon manipulation of patient expectations.
Here is how the methods work. Suppose a patient and his family rush to the hospital for a critical procedure. They are beside themselves with anxiety, and need all the hope and reassurance possible. While providing emotional comfort seems an easy mission for staff, medical professionals are now told, "Not so fast!-- this is "bad medicine".
(See Part 2, below)
BUT, the one who dared to compare 2-babies almost dying to an actor''s bad attiude at a one star diner, should be ashamed!
Not sure if you can post websites in here or not, but wanted to share ours and our sister site for patient education. We are PULSE of America, a support group for folks who have experienced medical errors and other adverse outcomes. Our sister group is Voice for Patients,an educational website for patients and families. If we are not permitted to put links in, please delete the links, but leave the names of our orgnaizations if anyone needs us.
www.pulseamerica.org
www.voice4patients.com
My face is scarred too.
When you are under medical care remember, they call it practicing medicine so they can cover their gluteus maximums.
This will change nothing.
There are more topics on the site WEALTHYBEAUTY.c om
ALL THESE ARE DEATHS PER YEAR:
%u2022 12,000 -- unnecessary surgery
%u2022 7,000 -- medication errors in hospitals
%u2022 20,000 -- other errors in hospitals
%u2022 80,000 -- infections in hospitals
%u2022 106,000 -- non-error, negative effects of drugs
These total to 225,000 deaths per year from iatrogenic causes!!
We have below 4,000 deaths in a war that is protecting this country from the %u201Cpeaceful%u201D religion of Islam and we hear about it constantly. We have women dressed in pink protesting against our military.
Where is the outrage over deaths at the hands of our doctors
I also do not like Dennis is blaming the nurses. No one person is to be blame. The process is to blame.
Since when do they CIRCUMCISE GIRLS?????????"Posted by az97202
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It is just a billing error - happens all the time, which is why you should read your bills.
As for when did they start circumcising, somewhere around the dark ages in the Middle East. To this day, women''s bodies are mutilated by "female circumcision" in most of the Arab countries.
I am afraid, and they medical community does not care. The only care they have is deny. The John Ridder case will be lost.
This situation will always be, and there will not be one doctor to say otherwise.
As far as for the Quaid family, tragic mistake. My son was born at Cedars just a few months before. I respect there privacy throughout this ordeal, and congratulate them for pushing for reform.
I hope your twins have no repercussions, and live a long healthy life.
I agree that the pharmaceutical company was negligent. To put the same kind of medicine in adult dose and baby dose in the exact shape and size bottle wasn''t just real smart in the first place, but not to recall it when they knew is a horror story waiting to happen and they deserve to be held responsible for it.
I agree that the pharmaceutical company was negligent. To put the same kind of medicine in adult dose and baby dose in the exact shape and size bottle wasn''t just real smart in the first place, but not to recall it when they knew is a horror story waiting to happen and they deserve to be held responsible for it.
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