Merrillville, INLen was scheduled for minor surgery and complained to the doctor that he had some pain in his left calf—they found a blood clot. He was admitted to hospital in August 2006 and was given an IV with Heparin. Instead of recovering, Len says his health deteriorated, and he believes it had to do with contaminated Heparin.
"I was in hospital for a week and was given Heparin every day along with blood thinners," says Len. I had a hard time getting my blood count down to the level they wanted. Finally I was released and was told to take 11mg of coumadin a day for the next six months.
In September 2006 I caught a cold and still had it one month later, this time accompanied with a nasty cough. I went back to my doctor and he prescribed me cough syrup and antibiotics. By December, I was back again and this time he diagnosed pneumonia. From January through May I started to see an allergy doctor because I couldn't get rid of the pneumonia. Turns out, I also had asthma.
I was 40 years old and had just retired from the military (after 22 years of service) so I was in really good health. Where did all this sickness come from? Nobody in my family had allergies, it was so weird. And worrisome.
From January 2007 right up until November, I was going back and forth to the doctor complaining of leg pain and shortness of breath. And it was affecting my job by now. I am a water treatment operator at US Steel. At times it would take me 20 minutes to climb 13 flights of stairs—by the time I got even half-way up, I would be out of breath.
I tried all kinds of meds, but still coughing and sneezing. Finally I went to the VA hospital, complaining about all these symptoms. I had an appointment for a CAT-Scan on November 14. The very next day after the CAT-Scan I got a phone call. They told me to get to the emergency room immediately because I had a pulmonary embolism.
That scared the hell outa me. I was hospitalized for five days. While I was there, I had another CAT-Scan on my leg and they found another blood clot. I was under both the care of my physician and a lung specialist. I wanted to go back to work but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. At the hospital I was walked around with an oxygen monitor and upon exertion, my oxygen levels dropped so I wasn't able to return to work.
So I'm going through a whole bunch of tests as we speak to get back to work. They recommended that I stay on coumadin for the rest of my life. So what does all this have to do with Heparin?
I never had that blood clot in my lungs when I first went into the hospital—from what I've read, Heparin might be to blame. I had colds in my life but they only lasted a few days. Why, out of the blue, right after being given this drug, did I become so sick?
I have my medical records from both occasions stating that I was given Heparin.
One day the record indictates: 64.4 on heparin therapy PTT Control 27.4. And on four consecutive days after that the record indicates: "Heparin Therapy" PTT control: 27.9 one day, another day says 27.6.On three of those days, it says "Status: final results abnormal".
The first time I heard about the adverse side effects from Heparin was online. Then I read it in the newspaper about blood clots in your lungs—that's when I went to your site; now it's time for me to seek legal help."
Heparin is still in the news as more lawsuits are filed against Baxter International, Inc., the manufacturer. In May 2008, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of many Kentucky residents who suffered serious injuries after using the contaminated drug. And more cases are expected to be filed.
This lawsuit names names Scientific Protein Laboratories L.L.C. (the company which manufactures the active pharmaceutical ingredient, also known as API, in Heparin) as well as certain corporate officers of Baxter. It alleges that Baxter manufactured the drug with a contaminated API and that Baxter failed to recall the defective drug in a timely fashion.
To date, Heparin has been linked to more than 400 serious injuries and it could be responsible for almost 100 deaths.