Federal regulators ask makers of many kinds of medical devices that contain the drug heparin to test their supplies. By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer WASHINGTON -- The scope of concerns about the possible ill effects of a...

April 8, 2008

Washington (dbTechno) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has put out a report which triples the number of human deaths linked to the blood thinner, heparin.

In total, the FDA found 103 reports of patients who died while taking heparin since January 2007.

The new report from the FDA has linked 62 of those deaths to the allergic reactions caused by the blood-thinner heparin. These deaths are among users of all brand of heparin, not just from Baxter.

Originally, the FDA cited 19 deaths linked to the blood-thinner heparin. This number has more than tripled though in the latest report.

The FDA stated these additional cases were added after a recall in February by Baxter.

The deaths were said to be caused by allergic reactions to the drugs. These allergic reactions are what caused Baxter to recall the U.S. heparin from the market.

One month ago, the FDA found that Baxter’s hepain was contaminated with a man-made chemical during production in China.

It is not yet known if the contaminant was added by accident, or on purpose.

Source: dBTechno