Heparin Follow-up

Seriously-how many times will heparin come up in the news? Just seems strange to me. The recall of Baxter's heparin supply (oh, and Baxter supplies about half the heparin to the US) caused some ruffles, especially if you work on a hospital. Or, if you work in Germany. Also, they figured out what was in the heparin that caused nearly a thousand allergic reactions, and several deaths. Here's an article that has links to previous articles if you want more information about the recall.

So, now for the rest of the story. As this editorial from the Washington Post points out-there are some major problems in the drug approval and investigation process. According to this editorial-80% of active drugs are made outside of the US, and not all of those plants are inspected.

Now back to the heparin-Here's a little info on where some of the heparin in our supply comes from. Be sure to click on the slideshow to see more pics-as well as pics from a factory that is quite a bit cleaner and more advanced.