Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

There has been yet another report of heparin being pulled off the market for fear it may harm people. This week, French drug maker Sanofi-Aventis recalled the remaining batches of its heparin medicine distributed before May 2008, Lovenox, based on a recommendation by French drug regulator Afssaps.

Lovenox, the company’s number one selling medicine, was first recalled last June after some batches of its pre-filled injectible solution were found to be contaminated with trace amounts of oversulphated chondroitin sulphate, according to Reuters.

Oversulphated chondroitin sulphate is the same contaminate found last March by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in batches of heparin that killed more than 80 Americans and sickened hundreds more. Those batches were traced back to Baxter International’s Chinese plant.

The level of contaminant found in Lovenox was much lower than what was found in the heparin manufactured by Baxter International, according to Forbes.

So, what exactly is oversulphated chondroitin sulphate?

According to a March 20, 2008, New York Times report, chondroitin sulphate is an inexpensive and readily available dietary supplement made from animal cartilage. In its natural state chondroitin sulphate does not have anticlotting properties, however when it is altered to what is called oversulphated chondroitin sulphate, it mimics heparin.

According to the FDA, oversulphated chondroitin sulphate is not an approved drug in the U.S., nor should it be found in heparin, as it likely caused the allergic reactions that have killed and sickened so many individuals worldwide.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 24th, 2008 at 10:46 am and is filed under Heparin recall. 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.