US, Chinese Governments Investigate Deadly Blood Thinner

By Daniel Hawn

Published on March 18, 2008

Wu Zhen, deputy commissioner of China's State Food and Drug Administration, said at a news conference Sunday that the two governments are looking into possible sources of contamination found in batches of heparin. Researchers have yet to make any conclusions, however, he noted.

Heparin, a product of Baxter International, has been linked to 19 deaths and hundreds of adverse reactions in the U.S. The drug's active ingredient, which is derived from pig intestines, is produced primarily in China.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently tested heparin taken from Baxter's main supplier – Wisconsin-based Scientific Protein Laboratories – and found a contaminant in 20 of the 28 samples examined. Scientific Protein Laboratories gets most of its supply of heparin's main ingredient from a manufacturer in China's east Jiangsu province.

U.S. and Chinese officials aren't sure that the contaminant is the cause of the adverse reactions, though they said it is the likely culprit.

Investigators are currently seeking to identify the contaminant, which they say mimics heparin so closely that it goes undetected in standard drug-purity tests. Health officials are also trying to determine at which point in the production process the drug supplies may have become contaminated.