Second heparin-linked twin newborn dies

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas, July 10 (UPI) -- A second twin has died at a Texas hospital where at least 14 infants were overdosed with the blood thinner heparin, a lawyer said Thursday.

Twin Kaylynn Garcia died Wednesday, a day after her 7-day-old brother, Keith, died among the 12 other infants who received more than 100 times the recommended heparin dosage at a high-level neonatal intensive care unit, Garcia family attorney Bob Patterson said.

Christus Spohn Hospital South said Keith's death was not caused by the overdose. It would not discuss Kaylynn's death because it had not received permission to do so from the family, The Corpus Christi Caller-Times reported.

A hospital investigation so far indicates the overdose error occurred during a mixing process last Thursday and was discovered by nurses Sunday night, spokeswoman Sherry Carr-Deer told the newspaper.

A judge approved Patterson's request for a temporary restraining order requiring the hospital to save all medical records, medicines and vials related to the twins' hospital stay.

Patterson said he would ask the court Friday to let him take depositions from hospital personnel.

The twins were born July 1, a month premature, and transferred to Christus Spohn that day because of its reputation for providing a higher level of care, Patterson said. He said the twins began exhibiting symptoms of an infection after their transfer.