CDC Confirms Heparin Deaths Linked to Baxter Imports from China
Earlier this month, federal investigators confirmed that batches of heparin imported from China by Baxter Healthcare were tainted with a man-made chemical that led to at least 81 deaths and 152 adverse reactions in U.S. patients who were prescribed the blood thinner.
An investigative team from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control published their findings in the Dec. 4 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
The report concluded that illnesses and deaths were all linked to heparin made in China that was contaminated with the chemical oversulfated chondroitin sulfate. The heparin was then marketed in the U.S. by Baxter, of Deerfield, Ill.
The crisis began in November 2007 and has continued through Jan. 31, 2008.
Heparin, derived from pig intestines, is typically injected into patients to reduce the risk of blood clots in catheters or during kidney dialysis and cardiac surgery.
Baxter International, one of the largest producers of heparin in the U.S., announced the voluntary recall of nine lots of heparin on Jan. 17, 2008, after reports of allergic-type reactions in patients given the drug. A month later, the FDA released a statement indicating that some patients who received heparin injections suffered symptoms, sometimes fatal, ranging from nausea and diarrhea to shortness of breath, dangerously low blood pressure and allergic or hypersensitivity reaction.
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.
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