It is being reported that 17 babies at a Corpus Christi, Texas hospital were accidently given a higher concentration of the drug heparin. One baby is said to have died possibly from a medication error during the mixing process within the hospital's pharmacy.
Heparin, in this case, was used to prevent blood clots from forming in IV lines in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit. The error was discovered by the nursing staff two days after the mistake was orginally made. The baby who died was seriously ill and what role the higher concentrations of heparin played in the baby's death has yet to be determined. Out of the remaining 16 babies, twelve are said to be in stable condition, three have been discharged and one is still in critical condition.
Most notably, the actor Dennis Quad and his wife brought heparin to spotlight last November when their 12-day-old twins were accidently given critical amounts of the drug during treatment for a staph infection. Though the couple's twins survived the ordeal without permenant injury the couple have become strong advocates for changing heparin's labeling since different concentrations of the drug have near similar packaging.
