The Impact of Tainted Heparin
Today’s issue of the Baltimore Sun reveals what it is like to be a patient the end of the contaminated heparin supply chain.
In “Drug safety crisis hits home,” Claire Panosian Dunavan relates her cousin’s recent experience after she received heparin in a U.S. hospital. The cousin, Laura, was rushed to the emergency room after a dangerous blood clot known as a deep vein thrombosis, a serious condition that can cause death, was discovered. To counteract the clot, she was given the blood thinner heparin.
Dunavan writes:
“As soon as a nurse started her anticoagulant drip, Laura thought she was dying.‘I never felt so terrible in my life,’ she later recalled. Sweaty and breathless, her chest and bowels heaving, she pressed her call button and yelled for help.’”
As soon as the heparin was stopped and a different blood thinner was administered, Laura felt better.
The author writes that a few weeks before her cousin’s reaction to the heparin, tainted supplies of the drug entered the United States. It would take another two months for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to alert the public and for a recall to get underway.
Dunavan notes that in addition to the U.S., 10 other countries have received contaminated heparin. It is believed that oversulfated chondroitin sulfate, a cheap, man-made ingredient, was substituted for the more expensive and naturally occurring ingredient harvested from pig intestines.
She calls the substitution “an act of economic fraud.”
“Or, you might say, manslaughter.”
Dunavan adds:
“Today, the $650 billion international pharmaceutical industry is quick to purchase ingredients and produce drugs wherever costs are low, opening the door to periodic disasters in every corner of health care, including hospitals.”
Fortunately, Laura survived the harrowing experience. But many others have not fared as well. The FDA recently released a statement indicating that 81 deaths linked to contaminated heparin were reported in the first three-and-a-half months of 2008.
If you have a loved one who has been injured or died after receiving heparin, contact Carey & Danis. We can help. Carey & Danis is a national law firm that represents personal injury victims and their families.
For more information, fill out our online contact form or call Carey & Danis toll-free at 800-721-2519.
