Famous Malpractice Case

Medical malpractice does not  discriminate, it affects both rich and poor people. For example, in 2007, actor Dennis and his wife Kimberly went through a medical malpractice ordeal involving their twins, soon after their birth. The newborns were supposed to be given a routine anticoagulant for a staph infection that both babies developed immediately after birth. This required nurses to set up an IV and administer antibiotics to prevent blood clotting. Unfortunately, because of to several hospital errors including nursing mistakes, the nurses administered at least two doses of heparin, an anticoagulant 1,000 stronger than the one they were intended to receive.

When the Quaids returned to the hospital to check on their babies, they were greeted at the hospital by Risk Management personnel and lawyers, the truth about the mistake having been concealed from them for at least eight hours or more. The large overdose meant that the babies did not have their natural immunity to clot blood and even the smallest opening in their body caused blood to gush out. The Quaid babies&; lives were at stake for almost two days before they slowly recovered and regained the ability to clot blood again. They told their story in personal interviews aired on 60 Minutes about medical malpractice and their newfound purpose of preventing medical errors in hospitals.

Dennis Quaid has since made it his mission in life to improve the hospital and nursing system to lower or prevent human error. He has testified before the United States Congress and attacked anti-consumer laws that set a ceiling on the amount of damages a family could recover for medical malpractice. As of 2010, the Quaids&; twins are doing fine according to their parents.  In 2008 the Quaids formed the Quaid Foundation which lobbied for hospitals to adopt bedside bar coding, scans on patient&;s wristbands to match scans on medications and other advances so that the wrong medicine does not go to the wrong patient. Since that time, Quaid has teamed with Charles Denham, M.D., a leader in the patient safety movement who started a nonprofit Texas institute called Texas Medical Institute of Technology (TMIT) which test systems and promotes healthcare safety. Quaid narrated  several documentaries about preventing medical malpractice. One of the documentaries is called &;Chasing Zero: Winning the War on Healthcare Harm&; which discusses medical error victims and interviews actual medical providers and nurses who have made mistakes and are calling for reforms.