Actor's twins given accidental OD
Wednesday, 21 Nov 2007 11:55
Quaid's twins were born to a surrogate mother.
The newborn twins of actor Dennis Quaid have been placed in intensive care after being given an accidental overdose of anticlotting medication.
Twelve-day-old Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace were being treated intravenously at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles when their IV catheters were mistakenly flushed with a 10,000-unit solution of anticlotting drug Heparin, rather than the recommended ten-unit dose.
The newborns were reportedly admitted to intensive care after starting to "bleed out" as their blood's ability to clot was undermined.
The twins were born via a surrogate mother on November 8th in Santa Monica, but the 53-year-old and his wife of three and a half years, Kimberly Buffington, are the children's biological parents.
Quaid also has a 15-year-old son, Jack Henry, with ex-wife Meg Ryan.
Cara Tripicchio, Quaid's representative, told E! News: "Dennis and Kimberly appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers and hope they can maintain their privacy at this difficult time."
Cedars-Sinai chief medical officer Dr Michael Langberg confirmed the accident, saying: "The error was identified by Cedars-Sinai staff, who immediately performed blood tests on the patients to measure blood clotting function."
In a statement, he added: "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."
Quaid stars as fictional US president Thomas Barnes in upcoming assassination thriller Vantage Point, released on March 7th 2008.