A congressional subcommittee allowed the families of victims who died due to tainted heparin to say their piece today. They told stories of family members looking forward to birthday dinners planned for the night of the day they died, and of multiple family members lost for the same reason.
According to Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations, the blood thinner’s contamination has led to the deaths of 81 people and another 785 severe allergic reactions. The victims were either heart patients or those receiving dialysis.
In several of the stories, family members relate similar symptoms suffered by those who died: severe diarrhea, abdominal pain, and trouble breathing. The victims then became unconscious and CPR failed to save them. In all cases the family members stated they never thought heparin might be the cause of death. Johanna Marie Staples, whose husband, Dennis, died on his 60th birthday, may have said it best when she told the subcommittee “we have a false sense of security” in a country where people expect to be safe and protected from contaminated drugs.
Janet Woodcock, the FDA‘s director at the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, told the subcommittee that there have been several major changes recently where drugs are made. She used as an example that the agency only received 150 generic drug applications from US makers in 2007 while receiving over 400 from India, and nearly 500 from China. Authorities believe China is the source from which the tainted heparin ingredients came.
Baxter International, the Illinois-based company with a majority stake in the Chinese company that allegedly sold the tainted heparin was also allowed to speak. Company president, Robert L. Parkinson Jr. said the company is concerned that the addition of hypersulfated chondroitin sulfate to heparin may have been deliberately added in a fraudulent manner. He went on to state that, “the complexity of the global drug supply chain creates new and emerging risks that call for new ways of thinking about, identifying and addressing vulnerabilities.”
Until companies like Baxter figure out their problems with how globalization is killing innocent Americans, we’ll be hearing about these things now and again.
If you or a loved one has had a severe allergic reaction you believe was brought about by tainted heparin, please contact an experienced injury lawyer in your area.
