Heparin Deaths Trigger Tougher Testing
Hundreds of deaths last year were linked to tainted batches of heparin. Now, new standards for testing the blood thinner are scheduled to go into effect, Bloomberg News reports.
The nonprofit health group, U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention, which is responsible for setting standards for the quality, purity, strength and consistency of medicines, unveiled a plan that would include three identification tests and screening for organic impurities beginning Aug. 1.
In a news release, Roger L. Williams MD, UPC’s chief executive officer, stated:
“The tragedies involving heparin and glycerin demonstrate the shortcomings of 20th century safety nets in a 21st century global manufacturing supply chain. The reality is that with the decentralized, complex and global nature of today’s manufacturing environment, it is too easy for an unscrupulous supplier—driven by economic or even more frightening motives—to add an ingredient to a drug product that shouldn’t be there, putting us all at risk.
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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