U.S. FDA Attributes More Deaths to Blood Thinner Heparin

These reports were made after Baxter International Inc., one of the manufacturers of heparin, recalled most of its products in February as these side effects were revealed.

The FDA reviewed cases reported from January 2007 to March 2008 and found 103 deaths regardless of cause.

Baxter received 38 reports of deaths related to heparin but a spokesperson of the company said yesterday that only four of them were linked to its version of heparin, according to the Washington Post.

The FDA has been checking contamination of heparin injections made by Baxter International pharmaceuticals, since it found the product was infected with an unnatural chemical while it was in a plant in China.

FDA stills investigating if the chemical was added on purpose or accidentally and announced that the agency will open an office in China to regulate drug imports to the U.S. more effectively.

However, the investigation of the FDA is not limited to manufacturer Baxter and includes other producers of heparin.

Separately, APP pharmaceutics said none of the 62 deaths were related to its version of heparin.

Shares of Baxter International Inc. slightly fell 0.05 cents or 0.08 percent to $59.77 on Wednesday. Goldman Sachs said the number of deaths related to Baxter's blood thinner heparin were very few.