The two-week-old twins of actor Dennis Quaid, who were born via a gestational carrier on November 8, 2007 in Santa Monica, California, are currently recovering after receiving 1,000 times the prescribed dose of a blood thinner, heparin.

Heparin is a common injectable anticoagulant derived from mucosal tissues of slaughtered meat animals such as porcine intestine or bovine lung. Just 1 unit of heparin is required to keep 1 mL of cat blood fluid for 24 hours at 0°C, and the twins, along with another newborn patient, received 10,000 units at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The normal dosage for a newborn is just 10 units.

"Dennis and Kimberly appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers and hope they can maintain their privacy during this difficult time," said Quaid's publicist, Cara Tripicchio.

The twins, Thomas and Zoe Quaid, were born to a woman who carried the pregnancy for the couple.

"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," Cedars-Sinai chief medical officer Dr. Michael Langberg said.

"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."

TMZ reported that pharmacy technicians at the prestigious medical center in California have accidentally put 10,000 units vials in the drawer where the 10 units vials were stored. Soon after receiving the overdose, the three affected infants began to bleed spontaneously, and the error was detected. Appropriate intensive care measures were immediately taken, and the babies were treated to reverse the effects of heparin.

Dennis William Quaid, 53, was previously married to actresses P. J. Soles (1978 – 1983) and Meg Ryan (1991 – 2001). He is currently married to Kimberly Buffington. The couple married on Independence Day of 2004.

Heparin (C₁₂H₁₉NO₂₀S₃), a naturally occurring anticoagulant produced by basophils and mast cells, has the highest negative surface charge density of any known biological molecule.