Consumer Affair
Cedars-Sinai hospital overdoses children with heparin
By Ben Wasserman
Jan 10, 2008 - 8:26:38 AM

THURSDAY JAN 10, 2008 (Foodconsumer.org) -- The Cedars-Sinai Medical Center endangered pediatric patients by administering overdoses of the blood thinner heparin, The Associated Press reported, citing state regulators as saying Wednesday.

One incident occurred on Nov. 18 when the hospital gave three children 1,000 times the intended dose of heparin, The California Department of Public Health said.

State regulators in the 20-page report said the "violations caused, or were likely to cause, serious injury or death to the patients who received the wrong medication" and labeled the incident as an act of "deficient practices".

"These systemic, unsafe medication practices by the facility created a risk of harm for all hospital patients," the report said.

The hospital's Chief Medical Officer Michael Langberg said, cited by The AP, the hospital had worked with the state to investigate the medical error and the state's review just echoed the hospital internal findings.

The report revealed the cases involved three pediatric patients. All recovered, but two needed medications to reverse the effects of heparin.

Injuryboard.com reported that two children involved in the incident were actor Dennis Quaid’s newborn twins who began bleeding out after receiving an overdose of Heparin, which is routinely used in hospitals to prevent blood clots.

Heparin when used in large doses can result in hemorrhage or bleeding that can occur at any site. It can also cause local irritation and hypersensitivity reactions.

Doctors' mistakes and drugs combined are the number one killer in the United States, killing about 750,000 a year, according to newstarget.com.