Dennis Quaid: the celebrity face of patient advocacy

Dennis Quaid of “The Day After Tomorrow” and “Enemy Mine” went on CBS’ “The Early Show” last week to speak of his advocacy against preventable medical errors. He spoke of how he used to feel safe in hospitals, until he and wife Kimberly almost lost their twins in 2007.

The Quaids almost lost their twins Thomas and Zoe after a nurse gave their newborns a blood thinner for adults as opposed to that prescribed for neonates. The dosage was 1,000 times stronger than the dosage for infants, effectively turning their blood into water, said Quaid in a 60-minute interview with Steve Croft in 2008.

The nurse mixed up the drugs, which could have been avoided if she had bothered to look at the dosage on the bottle, said Quaid. After numerous, extensive tests the children now show no signs of damage, but the ordeal has left a permanent mark and fear on both Dennis and his wife. As a result, the two of them have begun The Quaid Foundation to raise awareness about a broken medical system.

Since the incident, Dennis has become the celebrity face of patient advocacy, even appearing before Congress and the National Press Club which he addressed last week. The problem, says the actor, is that health care mistakes happen too often in hospitals all over the country, indicating that there is a problem with the system and not just a problem with human error. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an average of 99,000 deaths occur each year as a result of medical errors.