The Christus Spohn Hospital located in Corpus Christi, Texas reported 17 cases of infants being given Heparin overdose, accidentally. One of the babies died and officials plan to conduct an autopsy to determine if the blood thinner was to blame.
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The hospital said it is investigating to find out how the babies in its neonatal intensive care unit were given such high doses of Heparin.
Heparin is an anti-coagulant, which is used prevent intra-venous blood clots as well as for cleaning the blood vessels.
For almost two days, 17 children were administered with unacceptably high-doses of the drug, the nurses found on Sunday. They immediately called it off, and prescribed another medication to make up for the damage done.
The condition of twelve of the other sixteen babies is said to be stable, three have been discharged, but one, who was admitted in a critical condition still remains unstable.
According to a preliminary investigation, "the medication error occurred during the mixing process within the hospital pharmacy," said Bruce Holstien, president and CEO of Christus Spohn Health System.
However, it could not be determined if heparin overdose was responsible for the infant’s death, as there is a possibility of death due to some other reason. The baby who died "was seriously ill…Our deepest sympathy goes out to this family," said Dr. Richard Davis, chief medical officer for the health system.
The incidence of almost fatal doses of heparin in new-born is nothing new. Awareness across the nation sparked last year when the newborn twins of actor Dennis Quaid made headlines for a narrow escape from death following an accidental overdose of heparin at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
The 12-days old children were given 10,000 units of heparin instead of the 10 units, they were supposed to receive.
Quaid testified before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform about his family's experience. The actor and his wife, Kimberly, created a nonprofit organization, the Quaid Foundation, to check human errors in medical care.
In a similar Heparin-overdose incident, three infants died at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, in 2006. Almost two hundred related cases were reported in various hospitals across the country last year.