News Tagged ‘OSCS

Baxter faces numerous lawsuits over tainted heparin scandal

blood cells 100x100As many as 300 product-liability lawsuits may be filed in the Illinois state court against drug maker Baxter International Inc., by people injured by or families who lost loved ones to contaminated batches of the heparin. Per a judge’s order last year, attorneys are working to convert an aggregate lawsuit to individual claims against the Deerfield, Illinois-based drug company.

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China says tainted drug blame should fall on foreign suppliers

china flag1 100x100A Chinese senior health official says has been unfairly labeled as a center for fake drug production and that blame should be placed instead on foreign companies who do business with unregistered firms against Chinese regulations.

Bian Zhenijia, director of the drug safety supervision department of the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), urged companies to be more responsible when dealing with foreign suppliers.

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FDA clears Baxter in deaths following heparin injections

syringe 100x100Baxter Healthcare Corp. has been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration () in the deaths of two patients at a Delaware hospital following an injection of the drug maker’s heparin. The attributed the two deaths, and the illness of a third patent, to existing medical conditions. All three patients suffered intercranial bleeding following injections of heparin.

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Baxter says it’s not responsible for recent heparin deaths, illness

It’s like a bad dream happening all over again – people falling ill or dying after receiving doses of the heparin. In 2007, tainted doses of heparin killed more than 80 Americans and injured hundreds more. And while investigations into the cause continue, the culprit was found to have been over-sulfated chondroitin sulfate (OSCS) a -mimicking contaminant that made its way into batches of that were manufactured in Baxter International’s plant.

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New deaths, illness following heparin use spark FDA investigation

The Food and Drug Administration () is testing batches of the heparin after two people died and one became ill after receiving doses of the heparin, according to the Wall Street Journal.

All three incidences occurred at the Beebe Medical Center in Lewes, Delaware, and all three were given supplied by Baxter, the same drug company at the center of last year’s contaminated heparin scandal. That , which killed more than 80 people and injured hundreds more, was manufactured in . The latest batch was manufactured in Ohio.

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Congressman demands answers on tainted heparin scandal

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.

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FDA accuses Chinese companies of lying about role in heparin scandal

The Food and Drug Administrating () is accusing two Chinese pharmaceutical manufacturing companies of lying to federal regulators about their role in shipping batches of contaminated heparin into the United States between 2007 and 2008, according to Easy Bourse.

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FDA announces labeling changes for heparin

The Food and Drug Administration () announced this week safety labeling changes on the heparin to include warnings of fatal medication errors that have resulted in heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) and -induced thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (HITT), in particular in neonates, or infants less than a year old.

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FDA panel recommends agency approval of heparin alternative

blood cells 100x100A Food and Drug Administration () advisory panel voted last week to recommend agency approval of experimental rivaroxaban, according to Forbes. The medication, made by Johnson & Johnson and Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, is designed to be used on a short-term basis to prevent pulmonary embolism and deep-vein thrombosis in patients having total knee or hip replacement surgery. Blood clots are common after such surgeries.

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Hamburg, Sharfstein to head troubled FDA

The Obama administration has named two doctors to head up the much-criticized U.S. Food and Drug Administration (), individuals who are known for speaking out about public safety. Sources say Margaret Hamburg, a physician and former New York City health commissioner, was selected to run the agency with Joshua Sharfstein, of the Baltimore health commission, as her chief deputy, according to The Washington Post.

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