Quaids sue Baxter over packaging for heplock after children overdose

LOS ANGELES Actor Dennis Quaid and his wife are suing the Baxter Healthcare Corp. for $50,000, for the packaging of its heplock product, a blood-thinning drug. The Quaids are alleging that the drug’s packaging and bottle shapes were too similar to Heparin, which was what was given to their twin children in place of heplock.

The twins were supposed to receive a 10-unit dose of heplock, a diluted version of heparin, but instead received 10,000 units of heparin. After realizing the mistake and a harrowing wait for the parents, according to the family’s attorney, the twins are now doing “fantastic.”

This fall, the company changed its heparin packaging by adding a red caution label that must be torn off before the vial can be opened. Baxter issued a statement saying, “While we strive to clearly differentiate our products and dosages, no amount of differentiation will replace the value of clinicians carefully reviewing and reading a drug name and dose before dispensing and administering it.”