Families of contaminated heparin victims tell stories of deaths

[catgirl]

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The widow of a man who died after receiving contaminated heparin told a congressional subcommittee Tuesday "we have a false sense of security" in a land where people expect to be protected and safe.

Brushing away tears, Johanna Marie Staples of Toledo, Ohio, said her husband, Dennis, was looking forward to his 60th birthday party on the last day of his life.

Contaminated heparin, a blood thinner used in dialysis and other treatments, has been connected to 81 deaths and 785 severe allergic reactions, said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations.

The heparin, made from ingredients imported from China, has been recalled by Baxter International and the Food and Drug Administration has blocked imports from the Chinese company.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080429/ap_on_he_me/heparin;_ylt=AjS24b.2AYs12hEIyXSfDDOs0NUE

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Of course the contaminated drugs came from China. AND the drugs supposedly passed inspection.

"The FDA found the drug was contaminated with oversulfated chondroitin sulfate, which mimics heparin and thus was not detected in routine testing, Stupak noted."

[saigon68]

1. Of course the contaminated drugs came from China.

Disgusting

[catgirl]

2. Meant how?

There are many sham outfits making drugs with substitute ingredients in China.
Just the facts.

[saigon68]

3. Tell it to the dead

I'm sure they understand

[Blue Gardener]

4. Drugs from China are OK, but not from Canada?

There is something very wrong with this picture. I don't recall any stories about dozens of deaths from drugs imported from Canada.

[madmax]

6. I hear that!!

I have had Rhuematoid Arthritis for 10 years during which time I've had only one or two (at the most) a year - bad flare ups which required a shot of cortisone. In the past year the pills change in appearance with every refil and my new Dr. here in NC has increased the dosages and added another drug. I'm suffering a flare up almost every two weeks which require a shot or cortisone pills. I keep telling my dr. and my husband there is something WRONG with these drugs!!! They're either placebo's or the ingrediants are diluted.

I'm going to see another R/A specialist at Duke in June. I hope someone will listen to me!

[catgirl]

7. They're cheaper from China

[Blue Gardener]

8. I guess that's the bottom line

Greed rules the world.

[OhioChick]

5. Enough of this Chinese Shit, Already.

It only brings illness, death and misery.

[RamboLiberal]

9. Baxter CEO: Heparin contamination appears intentional

The contamination of Baxter International's (BAX) blood-thinner heparin appears to have been deliberate, the company's chief executive said in testimony prepared for a congressional hearing Tuesday.

"We're alarmed that one of our products was used, in what appears to have been a deliberate scheme, to adulterate a life-saving medication, and that people have suffered as a result," Baxter Chief Executive Robert Parkinson said.

"We deeply regret that this has happened, and I feel a strong sense of personal responsibility for these circumstances," he said.

At the hearing, a man who said he lost his wife and a son to reactions from tainted heparin made with ingredients from China urged U.S. lawmakers Tuesday to protect patients from other unsafe drugs.

Leroy Hubley said his wife, Bonnie, and son, Randy, had undergone kidney dialysis at an Ohio clinic and were given heparin that was later recalled by Baxter. Both had reactions to the blood thinner and died within one month of each other.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-03-29-ceo-heparin_N.htm

Quit trying to be cheap to improve the profit margin Baxter, make the stuff here or in another safe industrialized country we all can trust. Hope these victim's families get multi-millions out of you bastards!

[eilen]

10. In the last two years

we (nurses) have been required to give subcutaneous shots of low dose heparin 3x a day to hospital patients to prevent deep vein thrombosis. Almost every patient has this ordered, not just dialysis patients or those who already have been diagnosed with clots (those patients receive a continuous iv infusion of heparin until their clotting times are therapeutic for a period of time and then are transitioned to coumadin or a lower molecular weight heparin injection such as lovenox). I haven't been working there since 8/07 but had to administer it the last two years I was working there.

Not only do almost every surgical patients receive these shots post-op (esp. orthopedic surgeries), but I worked on a medical oncology floor--very little surgery patients,
So this is really kind of scary.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

11. For one year,

I was in the hospital, much of the time unable to walk. Every day I got a shot of heparin. I now think I might be the luckiest LaBamba in the world.