If you or a loved one has recently received heparin, an injectable blood thinning medication, and is exhibiting problems
ranging from dizziness and fainting to racing heart beat, you may contact our office for a free
consultation.
In January 2008, Baxter Healthcare Corp., a Deerfield, Ill.-based company
voluntarily recalled
nine lots of the vials after finding out dialysis patients had allergic reactions to the drug. Baxter recently announced it would stop manufacturing multiple-dose vials
of its blood thinning medication and further indicated that the problems were not limited to the nine lots in the recall.
Kidney-failure patients receive heparin to prevent clotting of blood during the dialysis process. The drug is also used in certain types of heart surgery.
FDA said nearly all the reported problems
have been in dialysis patients who received high doses of heparin over a short time. Agency scientists said doctors who continue to use the drug should
use the lowest doses possible and administer it slowly.
Government inspectors are examining Baxter's manufacturing sites to locate the source of the problems, FDA said. Baxter has agreed to cooperate with the
investigation. According to a Baxter spokeswoman, Erin Gardiner, Baxter’s testing found “trace differences” in some lots of the blood thinner heparin,
including quantities in which the active ingredient came from a
supplier’s plant in China. FDA officials considered a recall, but said they decided not to because it would create a
dangerous shortage of the drug. Baxter accounts for about half
the U.S. supply for the blood-thinning medicine. Instead, the
FDA warned doctors to use it with "caution when medically necessary."
