Heparin: Misdiagnosis of HIT

October 21, 2008

One issue that we have been blogging about since the beginning of the heparin catastrophe, is the presumption that doctors have misdiagnosed an overwhelming number of cases of adverse reaction to OSCS contamination, as normal disease processes. The default diagnosis for most heparin related deaths prior to the onset of this crisis is HIT (heparin-induced thrombocytopenia). Initially it was thought that anyone with a HIT diagnosis would clearly not be considered a potential adverse reaction to OSCS. But the more that we have gotten into these files, the more suspicious we are of a HIT diagnosis. Since HIT is the default diagnosis, it may simply mean that the doctors didn’t know what else to call it.

A good example of what we are saying about the overuse of the HIT diagnosis, is the case study below:

In late 2007 after receiving Heparin during cardiac surgery, Mrs. B, age 44, suffered from a severe reaction that caused extremely low blood pressure and required her to be on a breathing ventilator for 15 days. Tests for heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) came back negative initially, but one week later an additional test came back positive for HIT.

This September, in response to an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine, several medical doctors pointed out that the contaminant recently discovered in the nation's supply of Heparin manufactured by Baxter International, Inc., may cause symptoms that are indistinguishable from HIT.

After more than three weeks in intensive care, Mrs. B. was discharged, but today suffers from heavy audible wheezing and shortness of breath, severe memory loss, extreme fatigue, and tingling in her extremities.

This information about the heparin catastrophe is provided by Attorney Gordon Johnson, in conjunction with the Nolan Law Group of Chicago, IL. The Johnson Law Office is affiliated with The Nolan Law Group on Heparin litigation. The Nolan Law Group is presently involved in the litigation on behalf of those affected by the distribution of contaminated heparin.

Next: Heparin-bonded Catheters

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TOPICS:

• Manufacturers may have received contaminated Heparin as early as 2006
• Reports of serious drug reactions hit record
• Heparin - Misdiagnoses of HIT
• Heparin-bonded Catheters
• Adverse Heparin Reactions: Symptoms and Side Effects
• Drug Stayed on hospital shelves despite recall
• Regulator says hospitals need strict heparin rules
• The New England Journal of Medicine: MIT Study
• FDA: Heparin Warning
• Contaminated Heparin Can Do More than Kill
• Heparin Lawsuit: Areas of Inquiry
• FDA Press Releases
• Scott v. Baxter Lawsuit
• Reporting Heparin Problems
• Understated Adverse Reactions
• Baxter Widens Heparin Recall
• FDA Intercepting Heparin
• FDA Plans For Full-Time Staff in China
• Heparin Purity - China Doesn't Seem to Care
• Baxter Didn't Know About Absence of Inspection
• German Heparin Also Contaminated
• Heparin Contaminant Identified
• Heparin Recall Timeline
• Food and Drug Administration Globalization Act of 2008