Dennis Quaid leaving ABC Studios after appearing on ‘Live with Regis and Kelly’ in New York City, yesterday.

WENN

Dennis Quaid outside the Ed Sullivan Theater for the ‘Late Show With David Letterman’ in New York City, yesterday.

WENN

Dennis Quaid and Channing Tatum have been cast as the leads in Paramount’s G.I. Joe, based on the Hasbro military action figure line. Quaid will play team leader General Hawk, and Tatum will play Duke Hauser, the lead soldier who works closely on missions with fellow team member Ripcord, played by Marlon Wayans.

Also cast are Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rachel Nichols, Sienna Miller, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and Said Taghmaoui. Stephen Sommers is directing. Shooting is scheduled to start next month for an Aug. 7, 2009 release.

Quaid recently finished shooting the Gary Fleder-directed The Express, a biopic of college football star Ernie Davis. He will next be seen in the Noam Murro-directed Smart People and the Pete Travis-directed Vantage Point. Tatum recently completed the Kimberly Peirce-directed Stop Loss and just landed the role of Pretty Boy Floyd in the Michael Mann-directed Public Enemies, which also stars Johnny Depp and Christian Bale.

EW

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center has been cited for numerous safety lapses relating to the overdose of anti-clotting drug heparin that was given to Dennis Quaid’s newborn twins last November.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the California Department of Public Health has released a 20-page report detailing the failed procedures that led to a total of three patients (including Zoe Grace and Thomas Boone Quaid) being given a nearly fatal 1,000 times the prescribed dosage of heparin.

“This violation involved multiple failures by the facility to adhere to established policies and procedures for safe medication use,” the state wrote in its report. “These violations caused, or were likely to cause, serious injury or death to the patients who received the wrong medication.”

The prestigious L.A. hospital could also be issued fines by the state.

In a written statement, Dr. Michael L. Langberg, Cedars-Sinai’s chief medical officer, said the state report confirmed the hospital’s own investigation into the incidents.

“While this is a rare event, we are pleased that the [public health department] shares our view that it is an important opportunity for the entire institution to explore any and all ways we can further improve medication safety,” Langberg said.

Among the hospital’s errors cited in the report: medical staff failed to check product labels before they dispensed heparin, did not keep proper records of the drug’s usage, and the hospital didn’t take steps to implement its own policies on high-risk medications.

The Quaid twins were released from the hospital in early December, after which Quaid and his wife Kimberly filed a lawsuit against Chicago-based Baxter Healthcare Corp., the maker of heparin. As of Wednesday, the Quaids have not sued Cedars-Sinai for its errors.

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Dennis and Kimberly Quaid’s twins have fully recovered and were recently discharged from the hospital, their lawyer Susan E. Loggans confirms to PEOPLE.
“The twins are back home,” Loggans said of the newborns, Boone and Zoe. “Their condition is fantastic, they’re smiling. Zoe looks like her mom, and Boone looks like his dad. They’ve fully recovered from the accident and it’s doubtful they’ll suffer long-term effects from the overdose.”

The babies were hospitalized on November 20th after being given 1,000 times the recommended dose of Heparin.  The Quaids’ have filed a lawsuit again the makers of Heparin.

“The Quaids are very religious, and they believe their children’s recovery is a real miracle,” Loggans added.

The newborn twins of Dennis Quaid and wife Kimberly were hospitalized Tuesday in Los Angeles, reportedly in intensive care.

The actor’s rep, Cara Tripicchio, declined to give a reason, but said in a statement: “Dennis and Kimberly appreciate everyone’s thoughts and prayers and hope they can maintain their privacy at this difficult time.”

Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace, who were born on Nov. 8, were accidentally given a major dose of the anti-coagulant heparin, TMZ.com reports.

The babies are in stable condition in the neo-natal intensive care unit at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, TMZ reports.

Hospital Apologizes
The hospital did not directly comment on the Quaid twins. But it released a statement saying that on Sunday a “preventable error” occurred with three unidentified patients receiving heparin.

“I want to extend my deepest apologies to the families who were affected by this situation, and we will continue to work with them on any concerns or questions they may have,” said Dr. Michael L. Langberg, chief medical officer at Cedars.

He added: “This was a preventable error, involving a failure to follow our standard policies and procedures, and there is no excuse for that to occur at Cedars-Sinai. Although it appears at this point that there was no harm to any patient, we take this situation very seriously.”

According to Langberg, three unidentified patients had their IVs flushed with an overly high concentration of heparin, used to keep IV catheters from clotting.

“As a result of a preventable error, the patients’ IV catheters were flushed with heparin from vials containing a concentration of 10,000 units per milliliter instead of from vials containing a concentration of 10 units per milliliter,” said Langberg. “The error was identified by Cedars-Sinai staff, who immediately performed blood tests on the patients to measure blood clotting function.”

Other patients were tested as a precaution, Langberg said.

In the end, two of the patients had to be given a drug to reverse the effects of the heparin to help restore blood clotting to normal, he said.

“Additional medical tests and clinical evaluation conducted on the two patients indicated no adverse effects from the higher concentration of heparin or from the temporary abnormal clotting function,” Langberg said. “Doctors continue to monitor the patients.”

Quaid’s twins were born via a gestational carrier – a woman who carries another couple’s baby conceived by the parents’ own egg and sperm.

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