Quaid’s twins reportedly in stable condition

Los Angeles – Actor Dennis Quaid’s newborn twins were in stable condition Wednesday in the neonatal intensive care unit at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, according to the celebrity Web site TMZ.com.

The 2-week-olds, Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace, were among three patients accidentally given 1,000 times the common dosage of a blood thinner.

A Cedars-Sinai official said in a statement late Tuesday that tests indicated there were no adverse effects on the patients.

Cedars-Sinai’s chief medical officer, Michael L. Langberg, said three patients on Sunday each received vials containing 10,000 units per milliliter of heparin, a blood thinner, instead of vials with a concentration of 10 units per milliliter. The patients were receiving intravenous medications and the heparin was used to flush the catheters to prevent clotting.

Once the hospital staff realized the error, they tested to measure the patients’ blood clotting function, Langberg said. One test was normal, but the other two were given another drug, protamine sulfate, that reverses the effects of heparin.

It was not immediately clear which two of the three patients had received the second drug. Further tests on those two “indicated no adverse effects from the higher concentration of heparin,” Langberg said. “Doctors continue to monitor the patients.”

Quaid and his wife, Kimberly, are the biological parents of the twins, who were born Nov. 8 to a surrogate mother.

50 Cent offers condolences to West

New York – 50 Cent said Kayne West is making the right decision by returning to the stage after his mother’s sudden death.

“That’s really an unfortunate situation and I hope he can work his way through it,” 50 told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday. “It’s good to see him actually touring: You can work your way back into a comfortable space where you can deal with those situations.”

West’s 58-year-old mother and manager, Donda West, died Nov. 10 after she stopped breathing at her home. She died at home after recently undergoing plastic surgery; a cause of death has yet to be determined.

The rapper had a particularly close relationship with his mother and dedicated a song to her on his second album; earlier this week, he broke down in tears as he attempted to sing “Hey Mama” at a concert in Europe.

Funeral service for Donda West were Tuesday in Spencer, Okla., a suburb of Oklahoma City.

50 Cent and West had a much publicized, and much-hyped sales battle a couple of months ago when West’s “Graduation” and 50’s “Curtis” albums were released the same day; West’s CD outsold 50’s handily.

Despite the trash talk he delivered before both album’s were released, 50 says he has never considered West a rival.

“He’s a talented artist. I actually sat with him during the creation of ‘Curtis’ while he was creating his new album,” he said. “I never viewed him as an actual enemy; what I was trying to do is build a competition.”

Borgnine, now 90, not slowing down

Los Angeles – Ernest Borgnine could be taking it easy at 90, resting on laurels that include an Academy Award. But this year alone, he has made four made-for-TV or feature films – plus his voiceover work as Mermaid Man on the animated hit “SpongeBob SquarePants.”

The best-actor winner for the 1955 movie “Marty” believes “the best medicine for a man my age is to keep working.”

Borgnine’s latest role is in “A Grandpa for Christmas,” airing Saturday on the Hallmark Channel and co-starring Jamie Farr and Katherine Helmond.

He plays a man who must care for a 9-year-old granddaughter he never knew he had after his estranged daughter is seriously injured in a car accident.

The movie brought back a favorite Christmas memory from Borgnine’s childhood: Money was tight, so he and his sister knew their only gifts would be handmade by their mother; but just before the holiday a man who had owed Borgnine’s father money for a long time repaid him the $14.

“My father could have bought so many things with that money back then,” Borgnine said in statement from Hallmark Channel. “On Christmas morning my sister and I woke up and went downstairs to empty our stockings. I thought all they would have in them was the usual nuts and fruit, but in the bottom of each sock was $7. My mother and father were crying because they were so happy that we were happy. I never forgot that day.”

Charlie Daniels gets Grand Ole Opry invite

Nashville, Tenn. – Charlie Daniels received a gift-wrapped surprise at his annual Christmas for Kids benefit: an invitation to join the Grand Ole Opry.

Opry member Martina McBride presented it Monday night during the show at the Ryman Auditorium.

“I cannot even begin to tell you folks … this is very emotional for me,” Daniels, 71, told the audience. “I never ever in my wildest dreams, when I came to Nashville with my precious wife and son, dreamed that this would happen.”

Daniels – whose 1979 platinum single “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” topped the country chart, reached No. 3 on the pop chart and won a Grammy – is a singer, guitarist and fiddler who has been touring with his band since the early 1970s.

After the announcement, the curtains were pulled back to reveal the backdrop of the Opry radio show. Daniels will be officially inducted later this winter.

Established in 1925, the Opry is the longest continuously running radio show in the country. Legends such as Hank Williams Sr. and Patsy Cline were once members of the cast, and stars such as Alan Jackson and McBride are part of today’s show, which airs every Friday and Saturday night on WSM-AM.