Suing Mad!
Filed under: Legal Matters
Dennis Quaid and his wife, Kimberly, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the makers of Heparin, a the blood thinner which was given to the couple's infants in overdose amounts last month.
The lawsuit places the blame on the drug manufacturer, because the 10-unit vial and the 10,000-unit vials of the medication look the same.
As a result of the accidental overdose, the papers claim, twins "ZOE GRACE QUAID and THOMAS BOONE QUAID, suffered and will continue to suffer injuries of a pecuniary nature."
[Image via WENN.]
Does Anybody Still Care About These Two???
Young And Stinkin' Rich
It's not the drug company's fault that the labels were mis-read. I agree that it is sad and should not have happened, but how is it at all the fault of the drug company? If the drug were faulty or dangerous in the correct dosage then they can be held accountable. However, it is the hospital's fault that their employees are illiterate and cannot read a simple label. I mean honestly…
That is ridicuous to be suing the pharmaceutical company over a label. They should be suing the hospital, the nursing staff, at the Board of Nursing for the nurse to not triple check the medication. We are taught the 5 rights. We are also taught to check the medication three times before giving it to the patient. The nurse was extremly unprofessional to just grab a bottle and give, instead of actually checkign the bottle "just because it was in the wrong place" Thats how you kill people.
The babies will not suffer long term effects either.
Dumbasses
Also being shortstaffed, overworked, and underpaid is not an excuse and will not hold up in a court of law. There is a handbook specifically for pediatric dosing. Pharmacies in hospitals do make errors at times with where things get put. But it is up to the nurse who pulls the medication out to check the medication administration record as well as the physician's order, and then check the MAR number to th epatient to make sure that the patient is the correct patient. Right medication, Right dosage, Right route, Right patient, Right time.
AWW HELL NO! I'm sorry, this is a disaster, I'm sure. However, the makers of Heparin are NOT responsible for this. Please. Doesn't Dennis Quaid have ENOUGH fucking money? This makes me really mad. Everyone in America thinks that when something goes wrong, they can sue someone — ANYONE. How fucking ridiculous. If he wants to sue anyone, he should go after the hospital. The makers of Heparin did not administer this drug to his children… it was obviously an incompetent LPN or something. Dennis Quaid, it's sad what happened to your kids — but please get some fucking HOBBIES, dude. Make a Lifetime movie about this or something — you can get your money from THERE. Douche.
"suffer injuries of a pecuniary nature" Ummm that's to say they suffer injuries of a money/payment nature. Doesn't make sense.
The vial has a different colored needle cap and the label is a different color too.
They're only suing for 50,000 and to have the old vials replaced with the new packaging that has a red warning label that has to be ripped off before using. This came after 3 children died in Indianapolis last year. EVERY hospital NICU received special warning until the new packaging arrived. TWO nurses were to be present and double check the dosage. HUMAN ERROR.
Could you have used a simpler word, had to look this one up
1. of or pertaining to money: pecuniary difficulties.
2. consisting of or given or exacted in money or monetary payments: pecuniary tributes.
3. (of a crime, violation, etc.) involving a money penalty or fine.
THIS WAS CLEARLY THE HOSPITAL'S FAULT. THE NURSES VIOLATED THE RIGHTS OF NURSING LEARNED IN THEIR 101 CLASS…RIGHT DOSAGE..DUH!?!?! TWO NURSES ARE ALWAYS SUPPOSED TO VERIFY THE DOSAGE OF HEPARIN OR ANY DANGEROUS DRUG!!! WHY SUE THE PHARM CO.???
the drug companies are greedy bastards who have all the money & the power to change the drugs packaging
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As sad of a situation it is, they should be suing, I do not blame them. But WHY the makers of the drug???? Shouldn't they be suing the hospital and staff that was responsible for administering it???? The makers of the drug had nothing to do with it.
the part of his lawsuit claiming he is "deeply religious" is interesting….
the part of his lawsuit claiming he is "deeply religious" is interesting….
Normally I think all this *sue sue sue!!!* is sorta stupid, but if the packaging looks the same then it makes sense. Suing the hospital is one thing (would be the most likely place to start) but honestly if you've ever worked there it's easy to be tired, put things in the wrong place, not check thrice over every little thing. By suing the company that made the drug, they look better because they're not taking the easy route, instead suing the manufacturer for a mistake that could have (possibly) been prevented by making the bottles look different.
don't sue the company, sue the fucking nurse for the med error!!!!
doesn't he have enough money damn tool
for all who say he should sue the hospital…… who do you think has more money? obviously not the hospital! he will get more money from the drug company. plus he should sue the drug company so they get their shit figured out. the nurses arent all to blame, although they should have looked at the label no matter what.
and by the way questioning heparin is used to prevent blood clots in babies
What an idiot. He shouldn't be suing the makers of Heparin; they didn't have anything to do with it! He should be suing the idiot technician who put the bottle of Heparin in the wrong place, which is what led to the overdose. If the technician had been doing his/her JOB correctly, this would never have happened. You can't fuck up when others' lives are on the line!
stop posting unless you actually know what the fuck u r talking about… otherwise u look like a god damn idiot… y would u sue a nurse? why would u sue the hospital? he is suing the company because their labels for different amounts look almost identical……….. know your shit people and quiet sounding like idiots
are you 'effing kidding me?
I'm not making light of dennis' situation, but come on! I work at a hospital and ALL the containers of ALL liquid medications look similar. Is it really so hard to believe that ONE compnay that makes more than ONE medication would package them in similar ways?
The reason for the overdose of medication lies in the inability of the materials staff to store the medication in its proper location and/or the inability of the administering health professional to read medication labels. The reason the drug makers are being sued is because that's the only place there would be a substantial pay off.
I'm sorry for what happened to his daughters; I can't imagine what it must be like to go through something like that, but to use something like this as leverage to go after the big bucks and the big bucks alone is sick. It will also do NOTHING to ensure something like this doesn't happen again if we keep careless help in our medical profession. sheesh.
THIS is the reason people should sue, to prevent further harm or new harm to others
Good for him, poor babies
The blame doesn't lay on the drug company, it belongs with the nurse. It is her JOB to check that med 3 times before giving it. It was the NURSE'S med error. Accidents happen, but those babies could have died because the nurse was in a hurry. It's time to slow down and do the job right.
This is a BS lawsuit. I am an attorney who does medical malpractice. If anyone is to blame it is the hospital. I talked to a couple of neonatologists who don't work at Cedars & they said they don't have the adult dose on the pediatric floor/NICU. I also talked to someone who works at Cedars and this person told me a tech accidentally stocked the adult dose on the floor. Who cares what the meds look like - the nurse or whoever that gives it needs to look at the meds. The Quaids won't sue Cedars because it is the hospital to the rich & famous in LA. The big names in Hollywood all give the hospital & help the hospital raise millions of dollars each year. I know as I have been to several benefits where you see all the A listers - Tom Hanks, Speilberg, Michael Douglas, Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Garner, Katzenberg, etc. If Quaid sued Cedars he would probably never work in Hollywood again. Also, the suit is premature. There really aren't any damages unless the babies die or it somehow effects their quality of life. I am sure Cedars will write off what insurance doesn't cover relative to the medical care. Any pain & suffering won't be worth much unless these kids have a bad outcome.
It's crazy of them to sue the makers of Heparin because the hospital is to blame. Most Hospitals don't keep the 10,000 unit vial near infants, they use the premeasured 10 unit syringe and if they use the vials they keep on the 10 unit on the pediatric unit. The hospital knew they looked similar and should have taken the proper procedures to stock seperately. The 10,000 unit shouldn't have been on that floor. It's up to the Nurse that administered the Medication to check and recheck meds before they give them to patients. The hospital and the person that gave the med to the children are to blame and should be sued.
Re: lawstudent – You are an idiot. I hope you don't pass the bar because there are already enough stupid attorneys. Pecuniary means monetary as in money damages for future care of the kids. You are thinking of punitive which means to punish or deter. Also the "deeper pockets' theory won't apply here because the kids are expected to make a full recovery & then general damages per kid won't be more than 250k each. As for the specials, you know Cedars is writing off whatever insurance won't cover & what future medical care these kids are going to need (I doubt any) is unknown. You see that is the pecuniary part - they are claiming the kids need $$ because they are going to continue to need medical care in the future. Cedars is self insured for millions & also has excess insurance. Also, even with a products case that is strict liability you still need damages dumb ass. You obviously failed or are going to fail your Torts class. Anyway, the Quaids aren't suing Cedars because we all know it is the hospital to the stars.
There really should be no lawsuit if the kids make a full recovery which they are expected to do. If there is future care required for these kids or if the kids have really been harmed by this then they should sue Cedars. 30 patients were given the drug & thankfully only 3 were effected. There are a lot of excellent NICUs around but the NICU at Cedars is full of second class healthcare providers - doctors & nurses.
YOU GO FOR IT MATE. MAY YOUR MEGA DEEP POCKET MILLIONS KICK THEIS SORRY DURUG PEDDLER'S ASS. YES I AM HALF CUT LOL
damn overly litigous U.S. society… its not their fault you or the retards in the hospital cannot read. This is so pathetic. Its like suing someone because they put water and sulfuric acid in the same sized beeker tube. Can no one read in your shit society these days?
Any of you slamming the overworked nurses ever consider doing their job?
Blame the Company, blame the hospital, blame the nurses! Why not sue yourselves for having genetically defective kids? Jesus!
GOOD. HEPARIN'S MONEY HUNGRY BOARD SHOULD HAVE MORE INTELLIGENCE THAN TO PUT BOTH DRUGS IN BLUE PACKAGING. TAKE SOME COLOR CUES.
This is stupid, sue the drug company for a mistake the hospital makes? I work with these drugs daily and it's up to the caregiver to measure out the correct amounts…it's not easy to screw up unless you are a total moron, And then you shouldnt be working in the medical field.
They should most definitely sue the drug manufacturer. The goal should be to minimize human error. This is done by making the labeling different so that mistakes like this are less likely to happen. People will make mistakes, so you try to make it more difficult for this to happen. There have been cases in the past where potassium chloride (can stop the heart) was given in the hospital instead of sodium chloride (saline solution), because they are similar. Perhaps items that can be dangerous/high dosage should have a red label on it, to make people stop and notice.
"IN A RELATED STORY, MATH TEACHERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY HAVE FILED SUIT AGAINST THE CREATORS OF NUMBERS FOR MAKING 10 AND 10,000 LOOK TOO SIMILAR!, THUS CONFUSING SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN"
SERIOUSLY FOLKS, I SAW THE PACKAGING. THE PACKAGES ARE BOTH DIFFERENT COLORS, MORE SPECIFICALLY DIFFERENET SHADES OF THE SAME COLOR, BUT CLEARLY THERE IS A DISTINCT DIFFERENCE IN COLOR BETWEEN THE TWO. BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, ONE BOTTLE CLEARLY SAYS '10 UNITS' AND THE OTHER CLEARLY SAYS '10,000 UNITS'. THERE IS NO MISTAKING THAT. IT IS THE FAULT OF THE HOSPITAL, NOT THE DRUG MAKER BAXTER!! END OF STORY. THIS HAS BEEN THE VOICE OF REASON
Re: Sarah – I just looked at the pictures of the bottles and while the shape is the same, the label and the cap are not. This was a big screw up by nurse, but no point suing her right, because they won't get anything. What a joke.
WHAT A COMPLETE ASSHOLE..HE SHOULD SUE THE HOSPITAL, NOT THE MANUFACTURERES..THE HOSPITAL (NURSES) ARE THE ONES WHO SCREWED UP..THEY STOCKED THE WROING ONES IN THE WRONG AREAS..THEY DIDN'T BOTHER TO LOOK AT WHAT THEY HAD..AS HAS BEEN REPORTED, THIS GOES ON ALL THE TIME!!
As we nurses learn about 800 times in nursing school, read the label and verify the dose. It's not rocket science, and it is essential to competent nursing practice. Lots of meds we give come in similar-looking packaging, that's why we verify meds before we give them. The responsibility in this case lies completely with the nurse. Heparin is a very common medication, and it is supposed to be verified by two RNs (where I work) before being given. Sounds like a case of incompetent nursing to me!
The makers of Heparin, Baxter Pharmaceuticals, are most definitely negligent. The labeling of different Heparin doses are virtually identical and this is not the first time this sort of mix up has happened. Sue their ass off Dennis!
I would have sued the idiot nurse at the hospital who didn't read the label. Yes, it sucks that they looked the same, but these people know that alot of the meds look the same. It's their responsibility to actually read the label and not just guess that they are grabbing the right one. These are little lives they are dealing with. The people at the hospital should have been more careful… I don't care how well they treated them while their kids lives where hanging by a thread!