In early March, there was a scare involving a popular drug used for serious heart conditions or to prevent them in patients undergoing heart surgeries. This was certainly a serious matter, as the drug was used on those who were seriously ill. The active ingredient in Heparin, which is supposed to be a blood-thinner, had been replaced by a cheap counterfeit – over-sulfated chondroitin sulfate – which is actually used to relieve joint pain. The contaminated Heparin was traced back to a U.S. owned factory in China, adding yet another product to the list of recalls stemming from China. The FDA is currently running an investigation to find out if the addition of the contaminant was accidental.
Reports of severe reactions to the contaminated Heparin began in late February. An article in The New York Times reported that those who received Heparin were
experiencing breathing difficulties, vomiting, nausea, excessive sweating and serious drops in blood pressure which led to life-threatening shock in some of those cases. Fortunately, once the contaminant had been identified, the FDA stated that Heparin production was safe once again. Unfortunately, this slip-up in proper regulation may have led to the death of nineteen patients who suffered from serious heart conditions and used the contaminated Heparin.
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