What is Heparin?

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Heparin Prevents Blood Clots. Heparin is a blood thinner given to patients to prevent blood clots. Heparin is also used to keep potentially life-threatening blood clots from forming in the veins, arteries and lungs. Heparin is produced from an enzyme in the mucous lining of pig intestines.

Heparin Manufactured in China. China dominates the world market for raw Heparin because of its low labor costs and abundant supply of pigs. The suspect active ingredient in the contaminated Heparin originated at a plant in Changzhou, China, owned by Scientific Protein Laboratories, a Baxter supplier based in Waunakee, WI. Scientific Protein Laboratories gets its raw materials from go-betweens known as consolidators, who deal with slaughterhouses that receive pigs from farms.

Contaminated Heparin Made in Late 2007. Heparin lots in question were made beginning in September 2007, just after the peak in an epidemic of an often-fatal disease known as "blue ear" that afflicted more than 250,000 pigs throughout China. More than half of those pigs died or were exterminated. One thing appears certain so far. No manufacturer of blood thinners other than Baxter Healthcare has had the recent problems with its products.

At least one former top FDA official who helped to lead the fight against counterfeit drugs indicated that some Chinese suppliers in the past have introduced foreign substances to boost production when supplies were tight. That occurred in the early 1990s with an antibiotic known as gentamicin sulphate, which produced adverse reactions and some deaths in the United States.

What should you do? First, if you or a family member has been given Heparin since September 2007 and experienced any unusual side effects, contact your doctor's office or hospital to find out if you received Baxter's Heparin. If you received Heparin and experienced any side effects, you should also contact John Evans or Megan Faust at Specter Specter Evans & Manogue, P.C. by using the form below.