Congressman demands answers on tainted heparin scandal

May 6th, 2009 by Jennifer Walker-Journey

rep joe barton 100x100Rep. Joe Barton of Texas wants the Food and Drug Administration () to turn over databases stemming from last year’s tainted heparin scandal that killed more than 80 Americans and injured hundreds more, according to NASDAQ.com. At a public hearing last week, Barton raised concerns that the agency doesn’t know for sure what caused the contamination.

The has previously claimed the raw heparin originated from a manufacturing company in and was purposefully contaminated with a man-made chemical, over-sulfated chondroitin sulfate, OSCS. The Chinese government disagrees.

Barton, a ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has long championed the effort to resolve the scandal by scrutinizing the ’s investigation into the case and the subsequent recall. He has previously argued that the agency misrepresented deaths tied to the and didn’t thoroughly investigate the matter. He also has demanded answers on why the took six months to seize lots of the contaminated heparin from an Ohio agency that still had the tainted drug in stock.

In his latest inquiry, Barton wants to know if the has tracked the contamination back to the source. He also asked what action the Chinese government has taken in the matter and whether anyone in has been held accountable.

Products imported from have been in the spotlight in recent years as reports of more tainted foods, drugs and toys have entered the U.S. and injured people. The has been working to expand its inspections of foreign imports in part by opening offices overseas. The first of these offices opened late last year in .

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 at 12:25 pm and is filed under Heparin recall, News. 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.

  • gail satahoo
    my daughter had surgery for a brain anurysm. she was put on heparin before and after surgry after which she developed blood clots and suffered with pulmonary embolisms. she was told that she will be on lifetime use of coumadin. the doctor was unable to confirm the reason for her blood clots. could it have been because of heparin?
  • Denise Byrd
    Go to a Hematologist and ask them to run a blood test for Factor 5 Leiden. It is a clotting disorder that occurs in roughly 5 percent of the population. My guess is that is a low figure, because few people have ever heard of it. The numbers would probably increase if Drs. would check more patients who present to them with blood clots. Factor 5 Leiden means your blood has the propensity to "over-clot." Eating occasional leafy greens, or foods high in Vitamin K promotes the clotting. In my case, I was born with it, but wasn't diagnosed with it until 4 years ago, when I developed a clot in my mesoteric vein (stomach) It doesn't usually show itself until there is a trauma of some kind to the system (mine was actually a car accident 25 years ago, developed a DVT, but didn't know I had it at the time. I, too, will be on Coumadin/Warfarin forever. My daughter has the trait, so she is going to be on Heparin during her pregnancy. Good luck to you and your daughter. Since Factor 5 Leiden is genetic, you may need to be tested too, for future reference: ie., heart attack, etc.
  • Denise Byrd
    Is Heparin produced now safe to take? My daughter is pregnant and has to be on Heparin due to having Factor 5 Leiden, a genetic clotting disorder. Should she take something else?
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