Quaid's twins given overdose
21/11/2007 09:46  - (SA)  

Twin trouble for Quaid Dennis Quaid's surrogate twins

Los Angeles - Actor Dennis Quaid's newborn twin children were in serious condition in a Los Angeles hospital on Tuesday after a blunder that saw them given massive overdoses of an anti-clotting agent, a report said.

Quaid's children - Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace - were in intensive care at Cedars Sinai Medical Centre after being given a dose of the drug Heparin more than 1 000 times larger than the normal amount, website TMZ.com reported.

Heparin is used to flush out intravenous tubes and prevent blood clots. Babies typically receive 10 units of the drug but Quaid's children were given 10 000 units on Sunday before the alarm was raised, according to TMZ.com.

TMZ reported that as many as 13 patients received overdoses but in a statement later on Tuesday, Cedars Sinai's chief medical officer Michael Langberg said only three patients were involved, without revealing their identities.

Langberg said additional tests and evaluation on the two patients most seriously affected had shown "no adverse effects from the higher concentration of Heparin ... Doctors continue to monitor the patients."

An investigation was under way and the hospital was "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."

'Preventable error'

"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."

Quaid's children were born to the actor and his third wife Kimberly Buffington by surrogate on November 8.

A spokesperson for Quaid requested privacy in a statement. "Dennis and Kimberly appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers and hope they can maintain their privacy during this difficult time," the statement said.

Quaid, 53, is best known for roles in a string of hit films during the 1980s including The Right Stuff, Enemy Mine and Innerspace.

He also won acclaim for playing Jerry Lee Lewis in 1989's Great Balls of Fire!.

Quaid's career faltered during the early 1990s as he battled drug addiction but he still appeared in several successful films throughout the next decade, most notably Wyatt Earp in 1994 and 2000's Traffic.

More recently he starred in 2004 disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow.

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