Baxter Heparin

While some medications and medical procedures are found to be Heparin dangerous after they have already been widely used, others that are perfectly safe may also pose a health threat when they are exposed to some contaminating factor. In the case of heparin, the contamination was intentional and deadly. In fact, contaminated heparin has reportedly caused over 80 deaths to date.

What is Heparin?
Heparin, an anti-coagulant (blood thinning) medication, is an essential treatment for many conditions, including:

arrhythmias
blood clots
deep vein thrombosis (a condition in which blood clots block blood flow in the veins)
heart attack
pulmonary embolism (a condition in which blood clots dangerously block airways in the lungs)
stroke

Related Topics:

Baxter Heparin Lawsuits

Dangerous Drug Alert:

Baxter Recalls All Heparin Products

Other Heparin News:

Because heparin is fast acting, it is one of the most widely used anti-coagulants in the medical field.

Heparin Contamination
Baxter, International, an American-based manufacturer with plants in China, was one of the leading producers of heparin vials up until 2008. In fact, before reports of Baxter's heparin contamination, Baxter factories were churning out about 50 percent of the heparin vials used throughout the United States.

In an effort to save costs, however, Baxter's Chinese factories started cutting their heparin with a shellfish-based sulfate compound. Although this sulfate substitute could replicate the effects of heparin, it started causing patients to develop a number of health problems, as some vials reduced heparin concentrations up to 60 percent.

In addition to deaths, heparin contamination has been linked to the following side effects:

anaphylactic shock (This is a severe state of shock that results from a violent allergic reaction.)
breathing problems, including shortness of breath
drops in blood pressure
nausea
sweating
vomiting

Heparin Deaths & Side Effects Prompt Recalls
With initial reports of heparin-related health complications, Baxter stopped producing its heparin in January 2008. At this time, Baxter also initiated a limited recall of some of its heparin. Tragically, however, a large volume of contaminated heparin was still being used throughout the U.S., as only nine lots were pulled in this first recall.

Over the next two months patients continued to develop health problems after exposure to contaminated heparin, and it wasn’t until March 2008 that both Baxter and the FDA issued full-blown recalls of all contaminated heparin still in the U.S. By this time, however, nearly 800 patients already developed heparin-related health complications, and over 80 patients had suffered heparin-related deaths.

Heparin Lawsuits
If you or a loved one has suffered from heparin-induced health complications (or a loved one has died after exposure to contaminated heparin), you may be entitled to compensation. The health complications caused by contaminated heparin can be lifelong and deadly; by pursuing a heparin lawsuit, you can get the money you need to address the physical and emotional damage caused by contaminated heparin.

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