Story originally printed in the Coulee News or online at www.couleenews.com
Published - Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Heparin linked to 149 deaths
At least 149 deaths have been linked to the blood thinner heparin, up from the previous estimate of 81, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said this week.
Deerfield, Ill.-based Baxter International, which bought the active ingredient for its heparin from Scientific Protein Laboratories in Waunakee, or SPL, recalled the widely used drug in January after reports of allergic reactions began in November.
The FDA said a substance called oversulfated chondroitin sulfate -- a chemically modified version of a supplement people take to strengthen joints -- had contaminated some heparin supply, including raw heparin from an SPL plant in China.
Baxter hasn 't re-entered the market, and another company has been selling heparin free of the contamination, the FDA said.
SPL 's plant in China remains closed, pending an FDA inspection. The company continues to make the heparin ingredient at its Waunakee plant, which employs about 160 people.
David Strunce, SPL 's chief executive officer, said Friday that it 's too early to know how many of the 149 deaths reported Monday by the FDA are linked to Baxter 's heparin or SPL 's active ingredient.
The FDA 's tally includes any reported deaths in heparin patients from low blood pressure attacks.
"Until you look at each of these individually, you won 't know what the real number is, " Strunce said.
The heparin ingredient is a powder derived from pig intestines. SPL was spun off from Oscar Mayer in Madison in 1976.
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