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

The New England Journal of Medicine reported that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a study titled “Outbreak of Adverse Reactions Associated with Contaminated Heparin,” has confirmed the cause of serious adverse reactions in late 2007 were due to heparin contaminated with oversulfated chondroitin sulfate (OSCS). In the study, the CDC also determined that the contaminated heparin was linked to 152 adverse reactions in 113 patients from 13 states from Nov. 19, 2007 through Jan. 31, 2008.

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The FDA announced today that it will launch a voluntary two-year pilot program to help promote the safety of drugs and active drug ingredients made outside the U.S. As part of the Secure Supply Chain program, the FDA will select 100 volunteers to maintain control over drug products beginning with when they are produced until it enters the U.S.

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Actor Dennis Quaid and his wife Kimberly now have closure in their year-long heparin overdose lawsuit against Cedars-Siani Medical Center, according to OK! and Entertainment Tonight. The entertainment media reported that a Los Angeles judge has signed off on the $750,000 settlement the couple reached with Cedars-Siani last month. According to the settlement, the hospital did not admit wrongdoing in the potentially fatal overdose of heparin that was accidentally administered to the couple’s newborn children Zoe Grace and Thomas Boone Quaid. The settle also allows for the couple to pursue claims for their children in the future. The California Department of Public Heath fined Cedars-Siani $25,000 for the error.

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A class action lawsuit has been filed against Baxter Healthcare Corp., claiming the company began substituting ingredients in its anti-coagulant heparin with a dangerous counterfeit to “reap greater profits as a result of utilizing cheap component parts,” according to The Madison St. Clair (Illinois) The Record.

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The tainted heparin scandal was listed as the No. 1 story in the Chicago Tribune’s “The Top 10 local business stories of 2008.”

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Meet Allie Beaty. As a diabetic, her life depends on insulin. She wants to make a difference for others like her, make “the world safer for people with diabetes,” she says on her Web page, Alliesvoice.com. So Allie established a diabetes think group and shares ”Love Diabetes” videos on YouTube to push her mission.

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Rhodia SA, a leading producer of paracentamol drugs Panadol and Tylenol, will close its factory in France this week, leaving Europe completely dependent on imports for that drug, according to Bloomberg. Rhodia says it is dropping out of the $800 million paracentamol business because of stiff competition from Asian producers who can export the same product at a fraction of the cost.

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An infant may have been among the victims of the tainted heparin scandal earlier this year, according to WorldFocus consultant Peter Eisner, who has reported on the heparin crisis over several months. Eisner reports that Julien, the son of Alex and Ann Oryschak, died Nov. 19, 2007, after becoming ill. The Oryschaks believe that heparin may have lead to their infant son’s untimely death, and they want to share their story in hopes of influencing changes in drug regulations.

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The highly publicized lawsuit between the family of actor Dennis Quaid and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center has been settled, according to The Lowell Sun/Associated Press. Documents show that the Quaids have agreed on a $750,000 settlement with the hospital. The Quaid twins nearly died after they were accidentally given 1,000 times the intended dose of the blood thinner heparin shortly after birth. The settlement allows the couple to pursue claims for their children in the future.

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Another lawsuit has been filed against the Wisconsin-based heparin manufacturer, Scientific Protein Laboratories and one of its major distributors, Baxter International Inc., claiming the companies allowed contaminated batches of heparin to reach hospitals and medical facilities, where it led to the death of a 59-year-old hemodialysis patient, according to The News-Enterprise.

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