Heparin in the middle of controversy again…from China
Big trouble again for the magic blood thinner Heparin. Health officials identified a contaminant in batches of the medication associated with 19 deaths and are trying to determine how the chemical got into the drug. The lots of heparin were recalled on the 28th of February and there has been no new deaths. The key ingredient in this case was imported from China.
Dr. Janet Woodcock, head of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said the contaminant is oversulfated condroitin sulfate, a chemical that does not occur naturally. Condroitin sulfate is a natural compound that occurs widely and is used as a dietary supplement but the oversulfated version has not been widely studied. “We cannot rule in or out whether this was accidentally or deliberately introduced into the product,” Woodcock said, “We are investigating how it got in.”
The lots were marketed by Baxter International and China has given full cooperation in getting to the bottom of this. Does this make you nervous? Do events like this frighten you into not wanting to comply to medication?
More to come as this is updated…
via Comcast.net
Tags: blood thinner, heart-disease, heparin, medication, strokeRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Heart Drugs, Hearty Healthcare
1 opinion for Heparin in the middle of controversy again…from China
Betty
Mar 28, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Personally, I don’t understand why we are doing so much business with China. When they send all these bad things, and now, sending contaminated life-saving meds to the U.S., why should we trust them? Let’s get back to making everything right here in the U.S.A. and let us become self-sufficient, strong, guard our borders, inspect everything that does come in from anywhere, and I don’t mean spot checking,but checking all. This will open more jobs right here for citizens of this country. And if stuff becomes contaminated right here, then we’ll need to check more carefully by background checks of workers in all forms of industry. Being free does not mean being able to do anything one wants to do. Free means being able to do within the guidelines and rules set forth. To do otherwise is to be committing a crime or felony. Thanks for reading.
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