By: Erin Moore for Body1Actor Dennis Quaid and wife Kimberly Buffington are going public with their recent trauma. Kimberly gave birth to the couple’s newborn twins, Zoe Grace and Thomas Boone, on November 12 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Due to a hospital mix-up, the twins were given an accidentally high dose of a blood thinner medication and nearly died. Thankfully, the twins have recovered from the overdose, which was 1,000 times the standard dose of Heparin, but others have not been so lucky. Last year, a similar mistake cost three lives at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis – and hospital errors in general affect 1.5 million people each year.
Some hospitals are starting to use bar code systems to ensure that correct medicines are given to each patient. Be your own advocate and double check if you are unsure. Take steps like marking which part of your body surgery is planned for, and try to get appointments earlier in the day and the week.
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