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Dennis Quaid's Hospital Heparin Nightmare (Clip from 60 Minutes)
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Dennis Quaid's newborn twins nearly died due to a hospital medication error. Steve Kroft's interviews Dennis Quaid on 60 Minutes about the ordeal. (The hospital was recently ordered to pay a $25,000 fine.)
ShirleyAldrich
over 3 years ago
38 comments
Unfortunately this happens more times than we are made aware of. I think that the drug company and the nurse should be blamed. If she did not understand the labeling then she should have verified with someone else and also the nurse should have verifed the dosage with someone else with this drug anyway.
Miss_Janelle1
almost 5 years ago
6 comments
this situation is really disappointing but there's really no one to truly point the finger at i have been in a hospital setting and when things a busy and there's a lot going on there's room for mistakes to happen the end turned out to be great the survived and are in good health and thats what counts at the end of the day
Tetany
about 5 years ago
8 comments
I'm an ER nurse and I see the potential for mistakes every day. Poor penmanship, hectic pace, stress, these things and more can affect medication administration. However, some rules never change. Triple check the medications before administration. Make sure you have the right patient. Remember the 5 rules! When handling a HIGH ALERT medication like heparin, our hospital REQUIRES another nurse's verification that you are administering the right med. This isn't a slight against the nurse in question, it just makes good sense. Thank goodness the babes are all right.
Mel_nurse13
about 5 years ago
6 comments
I don't think the blame lies on any one individual. We are all human beings and accidents do happen. It is highly unlikely that that morning before work that nurse or any of the hospital personnel said as they were brushing their teeth. "I think today I will go into work and overdose Dennis Quaid's twins with heparin". This is an eye-opener and measures should be taken to change labeling or other check and balance procedures so this kind of thing does not happen. I am a cna and although I do not administer meds in my scope of practice. I can see how these mistakes could happen. It should be a lessen to all of us who are in nursing or want to become nurses.
justinenursing
about 5 years ago
238 comments
This is a good hospital and yes we are nurses and this does not excuse the nurse for makeing the mistakes they made however this is a lession learned. I have friend's that work there and I would trust them with my life.
nancyhinz
about 5 years ago
4 comments
Does the blame lie solely on the nurse or should the blame lie on the inadequacy of the drug companies labeling
Stephanie82
about 5 years ago
104 comments
Would this have been in the news if this didnt happen to Dennis Quaid's children? How many times has this happened and it did not make the news?
NLGeneralManager
about 5 years ago
32 comments
Cedar Sinai is such a great hospital - but whew. Quaid and Kroft both mention that the labels on heparin are confusing. More heparin overdoses occur proportionately than most other drugs.