Philadelphia Personal Injury Attorney Blog - Pomerantz Perlberger & Lewis LLP

Dennis and Kimberly Quaid have long been silent about the medical malpractice that nearly killed their twin children. The Quaids, who tried for many years to have children, suffering through five miscarriages before turning to medical science and utilizing a surrogate to bear their children. But they learned that what medicine gives, it can so easily take away, and years of hard work can be undone as a result of simple human error.

In the case of the Quaids, their newborns, who returned to Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles shortly after delivery because they showed signs of a hospital-acquired staph infection, it was a result of a prescription error. The children were supposed to be given a pediatric anti-clotting medication, Hep-lock, to help keep their antibiotic IV lines clear, but instead they were given an adult dose of the medication, Heparin, 1000 times stronger. As a result, their blood thinned perilously, and any prick of the needle, such as those done for blood samples, bled ceaselessly.

When doctors discovered the mistake, which happened twice, not once, over the eight-hour period the twins were in the hospital, they administered an antidote to Heparin and worked to control the bleeding. Although the children managed to survive the incident, many others have not been so lucky, including three of six children given the same wrong dosage just a month before.

The Quaids have not filed a medical malpractice suit against the hospital, but they have filed a defective pharmaceutical suit against Baxter International. Why? According to the Quaids, the hospital acknowledged its mistake and immediately put new protocols into effect to prevent its reoccurrence. On the other hand, Baxter International has refused to acknowledge that its product, commonly mistaken by doctors and nurses, according to US Pharmacopeia, a non-profit public health group that compiles information on medical errors, was poorly labeled.

The Quaids’ action is exemplary, showing us the need and purpose of medical malpractice suits. The goal is not only to ensure that victims do not suffer excessively or needlessly, but to force doctors, nurses, hospitals, and drug companies to acknowledge and rectify their mistakes. If you or someone you love has suffered as a result of medical malpractice, you have not only the right, but the responsibility to pursue legal action to protect others from suffering. Please contact the experienced medical malpractice lawyers at Pomerantz, Perlberger, and Lewis, LLP today to set up a free initial consultation.