Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Actor Dennis Quaid, star of films including ``The Right Stuff'' and ``The Day After Tomorrow,'' sued Baxter Healthcare Corp., claiming similar labels for the blood thinner Heparin and a less potent drug led to the injury of his newborn children.

Quaid, 53, and his wife said the Baxter International Inc. unit is liable for injuries the children suffered when they were wrongly injected with the more powerful drug in a Los Angeles hospital last month, according to a complaint filed today in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago.

``This was a life-threatening situation at the time it occurred,'' Quaid's attorney Susan Loggans said in a phone interview. ``They got adult doses of Heparin.''

The incorrect administration of Heparin, instead of the weaker derivative Hep-Lock, has been linked to at least three infant deaths. The complaint, which also accuses the drug company of negligence in the injury of the twins, Thomas Boone Quaid and Zoe Grace Quaid, seeks $50,000 in damages.

In February, Deerfield, Illinois-based Baxter issued a letter to health-care providers warning them not to rely on the label color ``as the sole indicator to differentiate product identity.''

`Unfortunate Situation'

``This was an unfortunate situation and our thoughts are with the family and the hospital team,'' Baxter spokeswoman Deborah Spak said in a phone interview. While the company is aware of the lawsuit, it hasn't been served with it and can't comment on the allegations, she said.

Loggans said the Quaids' children, a boy and girl born Nov. 8, had been hospitalized for treatment of staph infections. They both bled from the Heparin injection sites until a corrective drug was administered. They are no longer in danger, the lawyer said.

Baxter had introduced new packaging for its Heparin products before the Quaid children were injured, Spak said. The new labeling features larger type and a safety warning that must be removed before the vial containing the drug is opened, she said.

``No amount of differentiation will replace the value of clinicians carefully reviewing and reading a drug name and dosage before dispensing and administering it,'' Spak said.

Quaid filed the suit to draw public attention to the danger, his attorney said. ``He had an obligation to let the public know,'' Loggans said.

Baxter rose 12 cents to $59.13 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

The case is Dennis Quaid and Kimberly Quaid v. Baxter Healthcare Corp., 2007L013514, Cook County Circuit Court, Law Division (Chicago).

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Harris at the federal court in Chicago at aharris16@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 4, 2007 20:29 EST