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Staying Healthy

Family Wants Medicine Label Changed After Preemie Deaths

POSTED: 1:05 pm EDT September 21, 2006
UPDATED: 3:43 pm EDT September 21, 2006

An attorney representing two families of newborns who died Tuesday after an overdose of an anti-clotting drug at Methodist Hospital on Saturday wants the medication's packaging changed.

Nathaniel Lee is representing Heather Jeffers, whose baby girl died after getting an adult dose of heparin. Lee said Baxter Pharmaceutical, the company that makes the drug, should change the manufacturing label to help ensure that the same mistake doesn't happen again.

Thursday Jeffers was one of six premature infants who were given a dose of heparin that was 1,000 times stronger than it should have been. Two of the infants died soon after the doses were administered. Three more remain hospitalized, but were no longer showing effects from the drug, hospital officials said.

Lee said he has uncovered 10 other medical errors at Methodist Hospital since 2001.

Lee also represents one of the other families. He said a decision has not yet been made on whether to pursue lawsuits.

"I hear everyone issuing money. We don't care (about) money. Money is not going to replace what we lost," said Joann Pruitt, Thursday Jeffers' grandmother. "We just want this to not ever happen again to anyone."

Sam Odle, president and CEO of Methodist Hospital, had said that the hospital was offering restitution and counseling for all six of the affected families. He also said Methodist has instituted safeguards to ensure the dosing mistake does not occur again.


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