Thomas Boone Quaid made headlines before he was even two weeks old. Born on November 8, 2007, in Santa Monica, California, he and his twin sister Zoe Grace Quaid were at the center of a hospital medication error that made national news. Their father, veteran Hollywood actor Dennis Quaid, and mother Kimberly Buffington-Quaid had welcomed the twins through a gestational surrogate, only to face a parent’s worst nightmare just days later.
Thomas Boone Quaid’s story involves a medical scare that nearly killed him, a public divorce, and the consequences of a single hospital mistake that changed medication safety policy. Now a teenager raised between California and Texas, Thomas has grown up largely away from the spotlight — a deliberate choice by both his parents during and after their public divorce.
Quick Bio
| Name: | Thomas Boone Quaid |
| Birthday: | November 8, 2007 |
| Age | 17 |
| Birth Location | Santa Monica, California, USA |
| Ethnicity | Caucasian |
| Nationality | American |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Zodiac sign | Scorpio |
| Occupation: | Son of Dennis Quaid |
| @thomas.quaid |
The 2007 Heparin Overdose at Cedars-Sinai
The event that defined the earliest days of Thomas Boone Quaid’s life occurred on November 19, 2007 — just eleven days after his birth. Thomas and Zoe Grace had been admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for treatment of a staph infection, a relatively common concern for newborns.
What Went Wrong
While at Cedars-Sinai, the twins were supposed to receive Hep-Lock, a low-dose formulation of the blood thinner heparin containing 10 units per milliliter. Instead, they were administered Heparin Sodium at a concentration of 10,000 units per milliliter — one thousand times the intended dose. The overdose happened not once but twice within an eight-hour window.
The root cause was a chain of failures. A pharmacy technician had mistakenly placed adult-strength vials of heparin into the same storage bin as the pediatric-dose vials. Then a nurse retrieved a vial from the bin without verifying the label against the intended dosage. Because heparin is a powerful anticoagulant, the massive overdose put both infants at severe risk of uncontrolled bleeding and organ damage.
Treatment and Recovery
Medical staff administered protamine sulfate, a drug that reverses heparin’s blood-thinning effects, and the twins were placed under intensive monitoring. For days, their parents did not know whether the children would survive or suffer permanent damage.
Roughly two weeks after the overdose, both Thomas and Zoe Grace were discharged from the hospital. Subsequent medical testing indicated that neither twin sustained lasting physical harm — an outcome their doctors described as fortunate given the severity of the error.
Legal Action and Systemic Change
Dennis and Kimberly Quaid filed a lawsuit against Baxter Healthcare Corporation, the manufacturer of the heparin vials, arguing that the similar packaging between the adult and pediatric formulations contributed to the mix-up. A California state investigation found that Cedars-Sinai had committed multiple failures in medication administration protocols, including the lack of proper label verification procedures.
The incident prompted Cedars-Sinai to overhaul its medication safety systems. More broadly, it drew national attention to the problem of preventable hospital errors, which the Institute of Medicine had estimated caused tens of thousands of deaths annually in the United States.
Dennis Quaid’s Patient Safety Advocacy
The near-death experience of his children turned Dennis Quaid into a vocal patient safety advocate. He and Kimberly established the Quaid Foundation, which pushed hospitals to adopt bedside barcode scanning systems that match medications to patient wristbands before administration.
Dennis testified before Congress about hospital safety standards, appeared on CBS News and 60 Minutes to discuss preventable medical errors, and narrated the 2010 Discovery Channel documentary Chasing Zero: Winning the War on Healthcare Harm. The film profiled families affected by medical mistakes and highlighted the efforts of healthcare professionals working to eliminate preventable deaths.
Thomas and Zoe’s story became a catalyst for real policy changes in hospitals across the country, and their case pushed hospitals across the country to tighten medication protocols.
Thomas Boone Quaid’s Parents
Dennis Quaid
Dennis Quaid has been a fixture in Hollywood since the late 1970s, with a career spanning more than four decades. He is known for roles in films such as The Right Stuff (1983), The Big Easy (1986), The Parent Trap (1998), The Day After Tomorrow (2004), and Reagan (2024). Born on April 9, 1954, in Houston, Texas, Dennis has balanced a prolific acting career with an eventful personal life that includes four marriages.
His first marriage to actress P.J. Soles lasted from 1978 to 1983. He then married Meg Ryan in 1991, and together they had a son, Jack Henry Quaid, born in 1992. That marriage ended in divorce in 2001. Dennis married Kimberly Buffington, a real estate agent, on July 4, 2004, at his ranch in Paradise Valley, Montana. They had the twins Thomas and Zoe via surrogate in 2007. He is currently married to Laura Savoie, whom he wed on June 2, 2020, in Santa Barbara, California. Despite the 39-year age gap between them, Quaid has described the marriage as fulfilling, and the couple co-founded a production company called Bonniedale Films.
Kimberly Buffington-Quaid
Kimberly Buffington-Quaid worked as a real estate agent before and during her marriage to Dennis. After welcoming the twins through surrogacy in 2007 and surviving the heparin crisis together, the couple’s marriage went through a turbulent period. Kimberly first filed for divorce in March 2012, but withdrew the papers the following month. A second separation followed in October 2012, and Dennis filed for divorce in November of that year. They reconciled in 2013, but ultimately separated for good in June 2016, with the divorce finalized on April 27, 2018. Both parents share custody of Thomas and Zoe, and Dennis has spoken publicly about the importance of cooperative co-parenting.
Growing Up in a Blended Family
Thomas Boone Quaid is the youngest of Dennis Quaid’s three children. His older half-brother, Jack Quaid, was born on April 24, 1992, to Dennis and Meg Ryan. Jack has built a successful acting career of his own, earning recognition for his role as Hughie Campbell in Amazon’s The Boys, voicing Ensign Boimler in Star Trek: Lower Decks, and appearing in films like Scream (2022) and Oppenheimer (2023).
Despite the 15-year age difference, Thomas and Jack share a bond through their father. Dennis has often spoken in interviews about the importance of keeping his children connected and grounded, regardless of the complexities of his personal life.
Thomas and his twin sister Zoe Grace remain especially close. Growing up, the twins have split time between California and Texas. Their upbringing has been intentionally low-key — Dennis and Kimberly both prioritized giving the children as normal a childhood as possible, shielding them from paparazzi and tabloid attention. Zoe was spotted working as a camp counselor in Texas in the summer of 2025, suggesting both twins have been raised with a focus on responsibility and independence rather than celebrity privilege.
Thomas Boone Quaid’s Life Today
As of 2026, Thomas Boone Quaid is 18 years old. He maintains virtually no public social media presence — a rarity among teenagers his age and a further indication of his family’s commitment to privacy. Unlike many children of celebrities who gravitate toward Instagram or TikTok, Thomas has kept a remarkably low profile.
There is no confirmed information about Thomas pursuing acting or any specific career path at this time. While some celebrity gossip outlets have speculated about him following in his father’s footsteps or those of his half-brother Jack, Thomas has not made any public statements about his plans. Given his age, he is likely focused on completing his education and deciding on his next steps.
Dennis Quaid has repeatedly emphasized in interviews that being a father is his most important role. Whether Thomas ultimately enters the entertainment industry, pursues a completely different field, or takes time to figure things out, he has a family support system that spans both coasts and multiple generations of storytelling talent.
Thomas Boone Quaid’s Net Worth
Thomas Boone Quaid does not have an independent net worth. As a young adult who has not entered the workforce in any public capacity, his financial situation is tied to his family. His father, Dennis Quaid, has an estimated net worth built over four decades of consistent work in film and television, which provides Thomas with access to opportunities and resources that most people his age do not have.
That said, the Quaid family’s approach to parenting suggests that Thomas is not being handed a life of pure luxury without expectations. Both Dennis and Kimberly have made public comments about raising grounded children, and the fact that Zoe was working as a camp counselor at 17 points to a household that values work and self-sufficiency.
Interesting Facts About the Quaid Family
The Quaid family history extends well beyond Thomas. Dennis’s older brother, Randy Quaid, is also an actor known for his roles in National Lampoon’s Vacation and Independence Day. The family’s Texas roots run deep — Dennis grew up in the Bellaire neighborhood of Houston, and he has maintained property in the state throughout his life.
The heparin incident involving Thomas and Zoe was not an isolated event at Cedars-Sinai. Reports at the time indicated that other infants had been affected by similar dosing errors at hospitals across the country, making the Quaid case a high-profile example of a systemic problem. Dennis’s decision to go public with the family’s experience, rather than settling quietly, helped speed up medication safety reforms.
See also our profiles on Jesse DeWilde, McKenna Marie Taylor, and Maxine Sneed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Thomas Boone Quaid?
Thomas Boone Quaid is the son of actor Dennis Quaid and Kimberly Buffington-Quaid. He was born on November 8, 2007, in Santa Monica, California, along with his twin sister Zoe Grace Quaid. The twins were born through a gestational surrogate.
What happened to Thomas Boone Quaid as a newborn?
When Thomas was just eleven days old, he and his twin sister received a massive heparin overdose at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. They were given 10,000 units of the blood thinner instead of the prescribed 10 units — a thousand times the intended dose. Both infants were treated and made a full recovery with no lasting damage.
How old is Thomas Boone Quaid now?
Thomas Boone Quaid is 18 years old as of 2026. He was born on November 8, 2007.
Does Thomas Boone Quaid have siblings?
Yes. Thomas has a twin sister, Zoe Grace Quaid, and an older half-brother, Jack Quaid, who is an actor known for his role in The Boys. Jack is the son of Dennis Quaid and actress Meg Ryan.
Is Thomas Boone Quaid an actor?
There is no confirmed information that Thomas Boone Quaid has pursued acting. He maintains a private life and has not made any public career announcements as of 2026.
Are Dennis Quaid and Kimberly Buffington still married?
No. Dennis Quaid and Kimberly Buffington-Quaid finalized their divorce on April 27, 2018, after a prolonged process that included multiple filings and one reconciliation. Dennis married Laura Savoie in June 2020.
