New Data Link Heparin Deaths to Chinese Batches, FDA Says
Food and Drug Administration officials said yesterday they have new evidence that links hundreds of serious adverse reactions and scores of deaths among patients given the blood thinner heparin to a man-made contaminant introduced during production in China.
Janet Woodcock, director of the agency's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said that the contaminant has been traced to 12 different Chinese companies and has been found in heparin batches shipped to 11 nations, all of it from China.
By Marc Kaufman
22 April 2008