In a move to compensate for giving Hollywood actor Dennis Quaid’s Newborn twins an overdose of blood thinner earlier this month, 1,400 nurses at L.A.’s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center are being forced to undergo extra training.
"The day after the twins were given the accidental overdose, the entire nursing staff at Cedars were given letters informing them that when they came back to work, they would be taking a class in preventing further medication error,” The New York Post quoted Jill Furillo, spokeswoman of the Southern California Nurses Association, as saying.The twins, Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace, born on November 8 via a surrogate mother, were fighting for their lives after receiving 10,000 units of Heparin in place of the usual 10. Usually the anticoagulant is used to flush out IV lines and prevent blood clots.
A hospital technician reportedly stored the Heparin in the wrong location, causing the nurse who grabbed the medicine to administer the incorrect dosage.
According to sources, the nurse, who was involved with the overdose has been suspended with pay pending further investigation.
Furillo said that the nursing staff at Cedars has been warning the executive medical committee for years that these medication errors were increasing owing to cutbacks to staffing and the labeling of drugs.
Cedars Sinai did not give any confirmation on the letter that was sent out to the nurses.
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"The Quaids filed the lawsuit today because they were made aware that this Heparin mix-up had happened to other children, and they didn't want it to happen to anyone else,” said, the Quaids' lawyer, Susan Loggan.
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Source-ANI
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