The Center for Disease Control has confirmed a counterfeit ingredient was in the tainted heparin that caused many allergic reactions and deaths last year.

According to the CDC, drug manufacturer Baxter Healthcare is “the factor most strongly associated with reactions.” In January of this year, Baxter International recalled almost all of its heparin injections in the US after some patients experienced extreme allergic reactions, including difficulty breathing, nausea, vomiting, excessive sweating, and rapidly falling blood pressure that was life threatening.

The FDA identified 93 deaths and hundreds of cases of allergic reactions associated with the defective drug between January 1, 2008 and March 31, 2008.

According to the CDC study, the agency has identified 152 adverse reactions associated with heparin in 113 patients from November 19, 2007 through January 31, 2008. The CDC said that Baxter heparin was present in 100 percent of case facilities versus 4.3 percent of control facilities.

“Of 130 reactions for which information on the heparin lot was available, 128 (98.5 percent) occurred in a facility that had OSCS-contaminated heparin on the premises. Of 54 reactions for which the lot number of administered heparin was known, 52 (96.3 percent) occurred after the administration of OSCS-contaminated heparin,” the study said.

Defective drugs can cause harm and, sadly, fatalities. If a defective drug has harm you or a loved one, contact an experienced defective drugs attorney for professional insight.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008 at 5:30 pm and is filed under Defective Drugs, Heparin. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.