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Lawsuits filed around the country against Baxter International and Scientific Protein Laboratories over injuries and deaths from the contaminated blood thinner, heparin, will transferred to the U.S. District Court in Toledo Ohio to be heard before one judge.

Transfer of cases

According to news reports, a panel of seven federal judges recently ruled that all of the lawsuits filed against Illinois based Baxter International and Wisconsin based Scientific Protein Laboratories over contaminated heparin would be moved to the federal U.S. District Court in Toledo Ohio and heard before Judge James G. Carr.

More on the companies involved

Baxter International supplied the entire United States with approximately 50 percent of the heparin used in this country at one time. Scientific Protein Laboratories supplied Baxter with the raw ingredient used to manufacture heparin which is derived from pig intestines and obtained primarily from China.

What happened?

In January of 2008, Baxter recalled nine lots of heparin after receiving reports that the drug had been linked to several deaths and other serious adverse reactions. Shortly afterwards, the company recalled all remaining lots of its heparin as additional deaths and adverse reactions were being reported.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) claims that over 80 deaths and several hundred adverse reactions have been linked to contaminated heparin from China. However, at the time of the recall, neither the FDA nor Baxter had inspected the Chinese factory where the heparin likely originated.

Later, the FDA alleged that economic fraud may have been involved whereby the Chinese suppliers were using oversulfated chondrotin sulfate, an altered version of chondrotin sulfate made from animal cartilage that is similar to the active ingredient in heparin, but less expensive to produce. In fact, the New York Times reported that heparin costs $900 per pound vs. a mere $9 per pound for the oversulfated chondrotin sulfate.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) published a study in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine which bolsters the FDA’s suspicions and shows that a counterfeit chemical found in samples of contaminated heparin was responsible for the deaths and serious adverse reactions experienced by those in the United States.

How it has affected U.S. residents

The contaminated heparin has tragically affected many U.S. residents, including:

• An Ohio man who lost both his wife and son due to contaminated heparin within a month of each other
• A Texas woman who suffered and died from a brain hemorrhage after being given contaminated heparin
• An additional 11 deaths and 86 adverse injuries have been reported due to contaminated heparin used in medical devices.

Unfortunately, there are hundreds more who have experienced similar tragedies.

The transfer of lawsuits to Ohio is only a procedural matter and doesn’t affect your ability to file suit. If you or a loved one has been injured due to contaminated heparin, contact an attorney who has been following the heparin recalls and whose practice focuses in this area of the law. The consultation is free, without obligation and strictly confidential. To contact a qualified attorney to discuss your situation, please click here. We may be able to help.