Heparin Overdose Suspected Behind Baby Death in Texas Hospital
Posted by Administrator (admin) on Jul 31 2008 at 5:21 PM
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17 babies at a Texas hospital got elevated amounts of the blood thinner Heparin. One has died, though hospital officials said that it is unsure if the heparin contributed. It appears that nurses keeping IV lines clear used 10,000 units of heparin as opposed to 10, and the fault wasn’t caught until two days afterward.

A parallel incident last year almost killed the newborn twins of Dennis Quaid, turning the actor into an activist on hospital faults. He and his wife established The Quaid Foundation to press the cause.

Similar overdoses killed three Indiana babies two years ago when nurses didn’t realize that vials containing a thousand times the normal dose had been stocked by chance in a drug cabinet. The tainted heparin from China has been associated to greater than 80 deaths and numerous allergic reactions.

Baxter International, the leading heparin supplier in the U.S. market, says the drug is safe and helpful if used as directed. However, Quaid has sued Baxter, claiming that its wrapping of some heparin products contributed to the confusion. Baxter states that it has changed the packaging to make different dosages clearer. Some hospitals now need minimum two nurses to check heparin vials before use.

According to a Leapfrog survey, approximately seven thousand people each year die from preventable medication errors.

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