Manufacturer Halts Production of Blood Thinner Heparin

MONDAY, Feb. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Baxter HealthCare Corp., which produces half of the blood thinner heparin sold in the United States, said Monday that it was temporarily suspending production of its multi-dose injectable form of the drug following reports of serious allergic reactions and possibly four patient deaths.
The cause of the allergic reactions isn't known. It's also not clear how long production will be stopped. The one thing that is clear is that the stoppage could lead to a shortage of heparin, which is used to prevent blood clots in such patients as those undergoing kidney dialysis and heart surgery, U.S. health officials said.
Since the end of December, there have been about 350 reports of adverse reactions associated with Baxter's heparin product. This compares with less than 100 reports of adverse reactions in all of 2007, Dr. John Jenkins, director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Office of New Drugs at the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said during a Monday teleconference.

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