Quaid, wife sue over drug mishap

Los Angeles – Dennis Quaid and his wife, Kimberly, sued the makers of heparin Tuesday after their newborn twins were inadvertently given massive doses of the blood thinner at a hospital.

The product liability lawsuit, filed in Chicago, seeks more than $50,000 in damages. It claims that Baxter Healthcare Corp., based in Deerfield, Ill., was negligent in packaging different doses of the product in similar vials with blue backgrounds. The lawsuit also says the company should have recalled the large-dosage vials after overdoses killed three children at an Indianapolis hospital last year.

The lawsuit was first reported by CelebTV.com, which obtained the court documents.

The company had not been served with the lawsuit and could not comment specifically on it, spokeswoman Deborah Spak said.

However, “this is not a product issue. The issue here is about improper use of a product,” she said.

“While we strive to clearly differentiate our products and dosages, no amount of differentiation will replace the value of clinicians carefully reviewing and reading a drug name and dose before dispensing and administering it,” she added.

The Quaids’ children, Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace, and a third patient were at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Nov. 18 when they were mistakenly given vials of heparin that were 1,000 times stronger than the usual dosage.

Cedars-Sinai said Tuesday the mistake occurred when two pharmacy technicians failed to verify the vials’ concentration before placing them in the pediatrics unit where the lower-concentration heparin is kept. The nurses who administered the drug also failed to check the dosage, the hospital said in a news release.

Weiland denies drugs involved in car crash

Los Angeles – Scott Weiland was arrested for driving under the influence of a drug after he crashed his car, but his publicist says it was a minor accident and denies the allegations.

The Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver singer, who has a history of drug problems, was driving on a state highway Nov. 21 when he had the accident.

The singer was arrested after an officer noticed he showed “signs of impairment” and failed field sobriety tests, according to a police report obtained by the celebrity site TMZ.com.

Weiland, 40, was taken to the Van Nuys Jail where he refused to take a blood or urine test, according to the police report. He was booked and released on $40,000 bail. His next court appearance was set for Dec. 13.

Weiland’s publicist said in a statement that Weiland was involved in a “minor accident,” but denies he was driving under the influence.

“Scott was not driving under the influence of a drug, legal or illegal,” Kristine Ashton-Magnuson said. “He voluntarily took a Breathalyzer test which the defense believes registers well within the legal limit.”

Tiger mauls caretaker at actress’ sanctuary

Los Angeles – A tiger living in actress Tippi Hedren’s wildlife sanctuary mauled a caretaker Monday afternoon.

The caretaker bitten in the neck by Alexander, a 450-pound Bengal tiger, was off the critical list Tuesday but remained in intensive care, according to a spokesman for the animal sanctuary where the attack occurred.

The incident occurred about 3 p.m. Monday at Hedren’s Shambala Preserve, about 40 miles north of Los Angeles in Acton, which houses about 70 African lions, Siberian and Bengal tigers, leopards, servals, mountain lions and bobcats.

In an interview, Hedren said the 40-year-old caretaker was jumped by a tiger as the man was cleaning the animal’s enclosure. Fire officials airlifted the caretaker, who was not identified, to an area hospital.

“It’s a terrible, terrible thing that has happened,” Hedren said, adding that many of the tigers in her sanctuary come from abused backgrounds. “Who knows what happened to this tiger? People have kept them in closets, basements. Two of them were kept in air-conditioning systems.”

Hedren, best known for her starring role in the 1963 Alfred Hitchcock film “The Birds,” has been pushing for legislation that would crack down on people who have tigers as pets and would prohibit commercial breeding.

Singer wanders into unflattering photo

London – Amy Winehouse finally let her hair down – and it wasn’t pretty.

The 24-year-old singer was photographed outside her London home early Sunday barefoot and wearing jeans, a red bra and a pained expression. Her dark hair was loose, in contrast to her trademark beehive hairdo.

Her publicist, Tracey Miller, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Winehouse, stirred from sleep at 6 a.m. by “a lot of noise,” had stepped “outside her flat to investigate and was met by photographers.”

“She was startled,” Miller said.

London paper the Daily Mail wrote that Winehouse had the “pale moon face of a frightened, lonely little girl who had everything – looks, talent, money, love – and now has nothing.”

The headline asks, “Why is no one acting to stop (Amy’s) headlong rush into oblivion?”

Things haven’t improved. In a later report, the Mail says Amy got a 4 a.m. visit Tuesday morning from none other than Pete Doherty – the rocker who has made more drug-related headlines than Pablo Escobar.

Winehouse recently canceled all concerts and public appearances for the rest of the year on doctor’s orders.