Lambertville, MI"Patients have to know that heparin is a dangerous substance and given indiscriminately to suspected heart patients as part of hospital protocol," says Mary. "I believe a lot of older people have died from heparin allergic reactions and heparin contamination; there are many patients who are not as pro-active as me and don't realize they can say to a doctor or nurse, "Don't give me any heparin'. I have learned that you really have to fight to protect yourself in hospital."
Mary has been in and out of hospital over the years—she has stents and a pacemaker. She is familiar with heparin side effects and carries in her purse 24/7 a medical record that includes a warning not to give her any heparin. According to Mary, her medical records went unnoticed because she was recently given heparin again, against her doctor's orders.
"I was injured a few months ago and passed out in church," says Mary. " I was taken to the local ER and stabilized with nitroglycerine, doctors thinking I had an angina attack. They were worried that my stents were blocked so I was transported to another hospital and they did blood work, took x-rays and immediately installed a pic line. A nurse brought in an IV bag and I told her that I couldn't have any heparin. My gastroenterologist told me never to take heparin because I have an ulcer and it would cause me to bleed out. The nurse said it was only a saline solution to hydrate me.
Right away I had sharp, stabbing pains in my stomach. I asked the nurse if she was certain I wasn't given heparin. She reiterated that it was just saline. I had to go to the washroom so I grabbed the IV pole and went to the bathroom by myself. One IV bag was labeled heparin--I freaked! I had heparin pumped into my system for 90 minutes. My first reaction was to remove the pic line on my own but you can damage your veins if you aren't careful so I got another nurse to remove it right away.
I believe that protocol for suspected heart patients is blood tests and x-ray, nitroglycerin and heparin. You may not even be having a heart attack but they just do these procedures as precedent. As it turns out, I wasn't having a heart attack. I was suffering from a severe acid reflux attack combined with an ulcer so heparin made my condition worse. Nitroglycerine will help an acid reflux attack but heparin will make your ulcer bleed out right away.
Soon afterward, I had diarrhea with blood in it; I was so dizzy that I almost passed out. And my red blood cell count went down drastically—I could have died. I've had a bleed-out before and needed a blood transfusion—5 pints in total. Heparin can start a major flush out, very quickly. It took me a month to get over that episode. I have to be very careful and had to take sucralfate [an oral gastrointestinal medication primarily indicated for the treatment of active duodenal ulcers] to counteract the heparin. The heparin literally eats holes in your stomach, especially if it is tainted. Heparin should not be given so indiscriminately; it is very pathetic."
On the heels of 200 reported deaths and hundreds of serious injuries caused by tainted heparin shipped from China, on October 1, 2009 US health officials announced new manufacturing standards for the widely used blood-thinner heparin that will decrease the drug's potency by about 10 percent. "The correct dosing of heparin has always been highly individualized and requires intense monitoring, which is a protocol that will remain in effect," officials said. The standards were changed to include a specific chemical identification of heparin that more precisely identifies the chemicals in the drug.