Damn straight

Rico used to work for pharmaceutical companies, and they shouldn't expect protection from lawsuits by consumers (read: guinea pigs) harmed by their products. To that end, actor Dennis Quaid urged Congress on Wednesday to preserve patients' rights to sue drugmakers for injuries, recounting how his newborn twins nearly died from an accidental drug overdose. At a congressional hearing, the actor said victims of harm from medicines should be able to seek damages from manufacturers in state court. Drug and medical-device makers argue that U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval should preempt state liability suits in many instances, and the Supreme Court backed that view in a recent device case. Quaid said his twins were two weeks old when they were twice given 1,000 times the recommended dose of Baxter's heparin blood-thinner while being treated for an infection. Their blood "basically turned to the consistency of water," causing massive bleeding, he said. About forty hours later, clotting started returning to normal and they recovered, although long-term effects are unknown, Quaid said. Baxter said in a statement on Wednesday that the overdose resulted from human error at the hospital and was "unrelated to the safety and efficacy of Baxter's product."

Rico says he can't imagine the feeling of helplessness watching your children die from medical error, but the doctors were lucky that Quaid is a nicer man (or one with more to lose) than Rico...