Actor Dennis Quaid and his wife have reached a 750,000-dollar settlement with a Los Angeles hospital for a blunder which almost killed their twin babies, court documents showed Tuesday.

The Quaids' children Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace, born in November 2007, almost died after being given 1,000 times the normal dose of anti-clotting agent Heparin by staff at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Cedars-Sinai was not sued but the hospital was described in a court filing as a "potential defendant." Papers filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Monday reflected the new settlement.

Heparin is used to flush out intravenous tubes and prevent blood clots. Babies typically receive 10 units of the drug, but Quaid's children were reportedly given 10,000 units before the alarm was raised.

Quaid, and his third wife Kimberley Buffington, are also suing pharmaceutical company Baxter over the blunder.

A lawsuit alleges Baxter is liable because labels on the bottles of 10 units of Heparin and the bottles of 10,000 units are similar.

Quaid, 54, is best known for roles in a string of hit films during the 1980s including "The Right Stuff," "Enemy Mine" and "Innerspace." He also won acclaim for playing Jerry Lee Lewis in 1989's "Great Balls of Fire!."

Quaid's career faltered during the early 1990s as he battled drug addiction but he still appeared in several successful films throughout the next decade, most notably "Wyatt Earp" in 1994 and 2000's "Traffic."

Source: AFP