MovieChat Forums > Dennis Quaid Discussion > Why were his twins given heparin at all?

Why were his twins given heparin at all?

posted 17 years ago by phkasenetz
9 replies | jump to latest

I don't understand why newborns would need heaprin unless they were coagulopathic. Did the twins have an underlying medical condition? I didn't know it was standard to be giving infants heparin. Usually, heparin is given when there is concern for excessive clotting, or when it is used to flush or lock a line. Does someone know the indications for giving heparin in newborns (and I can't imagine that it would include DVT prophylaxis)? This entire ordeal makes me think that the kids ahve some sort of blood disorder or that they were being given heparin because they were in the NICU for other severe medical problems...

[–] lyndomino 12 years ago

Not the wrong drug, exactly, rather it was the wrong concentration. Hep-lock concentration for infants is 1:10 (10 units/milliliter) and regular heparin is 1:10000 (10,000 units/ml), so basically, the babies got a dose that was 1000x stronger than they should have had. Quaid sued the manufacturer, in addition to the hospital, so they would change the packaging of the pediatric concentration to make it easily distinguishable from other concentrations of it. At first, the drug co. tried to pass the blame to the hospital, but eventually they did change it by putting a red warning label across the top of the vial that has to be torn off to draw up the medication. As I understand it, that's the main thing Quaid and his wife wanted. It's a miracle their babies weren't killed. Heparin overdose is pretty easy to correct, but the sooner you give the antidote, the better.