Nov 22, 2007, 11:30 GMT
Dennis Quaid's newborn twins are in "a stable condition" after being given an accidental drug overdose.
Dennis Quaid - Los Angeles, CA © Glenn Harris / Photorazzi
Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace - who were born via a surrogate on November 8 to Dennis and his wife Kimberly Buffington at Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Medical Center - were left fighting for their lives after mistakenly being given 10,000 units of the anti-coagulant Heparin - which stops the blood from clotting.
Babies are only allowed to have 10 units.
Although the twins are in a stable condition, an authoritative source at the hospital said: "Doctors are still very concerned because of the bleed out. It will not be determined for another week whether there will be long-term effects."
Meanwhile, it has been revealed Cedars-Sinai Medical Center was warned by America's Food and Drug Association (FDA) of the dangers of mistaking the low and high dose vials of Heparin in February.
In the safety alert dated February 6, 2007, the FDA and Baxter Healthcare Corporation, one of the pharmaceutical companies that manufacture Heparin, warned of the dangers of confusing 10 and 10,000 unit vials of the drug, as the labelling is very similar.
The alert was issued after three infants died in Indiana after they were mistakenly given adult doses. The memo warned hospitals to double-check their inventory to make sure errors in dispensing do not occur.
Sources claim a pharmacy technician at Cedars mistakenly stocked a drawer used for the 10 unit vials with the 10,000 unit doses.
The hospital has released a statement admitting it was a "preventable error".
(C) BANG Media International
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