Product Alert – Baxter's Heparin
February 12, 2008
Here is what I do not understand. If the Heparin is a “medically necessary product” how come physicians are urged caution–read “do not prescribe”– in its use?
Baxter Halts Production of Multi-Use Heparin Vials
ROCKVILLE, Md., Feb. 11 — Reacting to a “spike” in adverse events — including four deaths — Baxter Healthcare has temporarily stopped making its multiple-dose vials of heparin sodium, the FDA said today.The move was not accompanied by a general recall of the products but physicians are being urged to use them with care, according to John Jenkins, M.D., of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
Dr. Jenkins said recalling the multiple-dose vials would create an immediate shortage of a “medically necessary product,” because Baxter produces about half the heparin used in the U.S.
