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

The blood thinner heparin will now include a new reference standard and test method that is used to determine the potency of the drug and detect impurities that may be present in it, according to a safety alert issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The change is effective as of October 1, 2009, and will harmonize the USP unit dose with the WHO International Standard unit does, which will result in an approximately 10 percent reduction in the potency of the heparin marketed in the United States.

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Watchdog group Project on Government Oversight (POGO) is asking the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspector general to investigate why the agency failed to stop contaminated syringes from reaching the public that caused four deaths and 162 serious injuries to individuals who were treated with the tainted products.

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It’s like a bad dream happening all over again – people falling ill or dying after receiving doses of the blood thinner 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 heparin-mimicking contaminant that made its way into batches of heparin that were manufactured in Baxter International’s China plant.

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President Barack Obama’s top pick for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner, Bioterrorsim expert and former New York City health commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg, says that she wants to restore public confidence in the FDA, according to Boston.com.

She already has Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s support. “Her expertise is valuable for problems we now face, such as combating food-borne illness, cooperating with other agencies to address the new flu outbreak and drug-resistant diseases, and protecting our food and drug supplies,” Sen. Kennedy said in a statement for the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing.

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Rep. Joe Barton of Texas wants the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 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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A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel voted last week to recommend agency approval of experimental blood thinner 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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The Obama administration has named two doctors to head up the much-criticized U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 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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A class action lawsuit has been filed against Baxter claiming the drug maker substituted an ingredient in its blood thinner heparin with a cheaper, more dangerous one in order to reap more profits, according to the Madison-St. Clair The Record. Twenty-eight people are named in the lawsuit, most of whom are spouses of individuals who died after receiving injections of the tainted heparin. The lawsuit was filed in St. Clair County Court in Illinois.

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As a presidential candidate, President Barack Obama said he supported individuals’ rights to import cheaper drugs from other countries provided the FDA beefed up its inspections to ensure the imports are safe. His new budget plan backs up that claim, according to Reuters. The plan, released earlier this week, says it “supports the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) efforts to allow Americans to buy safe and effective drugs from other countries.”

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The FDA received reports of about debris in syringes filled with heparin and saline distributed by AM2PAT as early as 2005, yet the agency didn’t follow up on those complaints until 2007, after five deaths and hundreds of illnesses were linked to the contaminated syringes, according to the Associated Press.

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