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A heparin overdose was widely publicized in November 2007, when the twin infants of actor Dennis Quaid and a third infant were accidentally given a life-threatening amount of heparin at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. Although the babies survived and are now well, their heparin overdose is a frightening reminder of just how many medication mistakes are made at hospitals.

Over A Million Drug Overdoses Yearly

It was reported by the Institute of Medicine, an independent agency established by the National Academy of Sciences, that approximately 1.5 million patients are given the wrong dose of a medication each year in the United States. About 7,000 people die each year because of medication overdoses.

Heparin Accounts for Many Overdoses

Heparin is an anticoagulant drug that is among the eight medications that account for more than 30 percent of all medication errors, according to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices. In the Quaid babies' case, the labels of the vials containing 10,000 units/mL and the vials containing 10 units/mL were strikingly similar, and had been revised recently by heparin's provider, Baxter Healthcare.

Overdose Risk

Heparin can be infused or injected directly into patients. It can also be injected into catheters or intravenous lines to flush them out and prevent clotting. An overdose of heparin is a possibility in either case, regardless of how the drug is administered.

Preemies and Others

Heparin overdoses are especially a concern regarding the patient population of premature and other very-low-body-weight babies, whose body systems are very vulnerable. The three babies at Cedar-Sinai were harmed by a heparin overdose via their vascular access lines, and three infants died from heparin overdoses in 2006 in an Indiana hospital.

However, a patient of any age and body weight can suffer severe damage and fatality from a heparin overdose.

How Heparin Overdoses Happen

Heparin overdoses are usually traced to human errors — sometimes to a whole series of human errors. The pharmacy, the technicians, the nurses, the physicians and others may miss a dosage error. Another cause may be in the manufacture of the heparin; this is an issue with the recent recall of possibly contaminated heparin from Baxter.

Ask a Lawyer about Heparin Overdoses

If you've been harmed by a heparin overdose, discuss your legal options with an experienced lawyer near you.

"Heparin Linked Deaths Continue to Pile"

After months of investigation, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has definitively tied three patient deaths to contaminated heparin.

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"Devices Coated with Carmeda BioActive Recalled"

Medical device maker Medtronic has issued a voluntary recall of heparin-coated bypass equipment, including pumps, reservoirs and blood oxygenators. The company said the recall is a pre...

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"Families Testify for Loved Ones Harmed by Heparin"

The families of people who died from contaminated heparin injections testified before Congress last week, expressing anger and grief over manufacturing and regulatory safety failures.

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