Baxter International Inc., which recalled its blood thinner heparin amid reports of allergic reactions and deaths in 2008, faces at least 30 lawsuits in Chicago by injured people or their estates.
As many as 300 product-liability complaints may be filed in the Illinois state court, according to plaintiffs’ attorney Allen Schwartz. His law firm and two others are working to comply with a judge’s order last year to convert an aggregate lawsuit to individual claims against the Deerfield, Illinois-based company.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration requested new manufacturing standards for the blood thinner in 2008 after the problems were linked to tainted ingredients from China.
“This is an actual contaminant that got into the product,” Schwartz said.
Baxter, which at the time supplied about 50 percent of the blood thinner and anticoagulant used in the U.S., began a voluntary recall after its monitors noticed an increase in reports of allergic reactions to injections of the drug, said Erin Gardiner, a company spokeswoman.
A key ingredient in heparin is made in China from pig intestines, the company said in a May 2008 statement.
While the contaminating agent was introduced into the process before the product reached Baxter or a Wisconsin-based supplier, the company wasn’t able to determine where it had entered the supply chain.
The complaints accuse Baxter and the supplier, Scientific Protein Laboratories LLC, of negligence, alleging their products were unsafe for their intended use. The suits seek money damages for those who were injured and for survivors of those who died.
If you or a family member has been personally injured because of the fault of someone else: by the use of dangerous and defective drugs, bad products, or toxic injury etc then please contact the Fort Worth Texas Defective Drugs Product Liability Attorney Dr. Shezad Malik. For a no obligation, free case analysis, please call 214-390-3189 or Contact Me Online.
The Dr. Shezad Malik Law is currently evaluating and accepting tainted Heparin cases.