Recall linked back to the 2007/2008 Heparin crisis that poisoned hundreds.
Andrew Zajac from the Los Angeles Times is reporting about the recent announcement by B. Braun Medical Inc., of a recall of seven lots of the anticoagulant heparin because of concerns they may be contaminated with trace amounts of oversulfated chondroitin sulfate, or OSCS, the same substance implicated in the 2008 heparin crisis that killed or seriously sickened dozens of people.
According to the Mr. Zajac’s report:
• The company said in a statement that based on current information, the recalled lots did not pose a significant health risk, but they're being pulled from the market "with the support of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration."
• "There is not a significant public health threat," FDA spokeswoman Karen Riley said.
• The active ingredient in the suspect heparin was manufactured by Scientific Protein Laboratories Inc. of Waunakee, Wis., the same company that supplied the active ingredient for the heparin distributed by Baxter International that poisoned hundreds of patients in late 2007 and early 2008.
• Riley said B. Braun's announcement reflected a decision by Scientific Protein to recall three lots of the heparin ingredient that were distributed to manufacturers in the United States, Canada and Japan. It was not immediately clear how many, if any, other manufacturers are affected by the recall.
• Both the heparin in the poisonings and in the B. Braun recall were manufactured with raw material – pig intestines – from China. An FDA-led inquiry at the time of the heparin crisis identified OSCS as the contaminant. The substance apparently was added in an effort to stretch heparin, which is subject to significant fluctuations in supply because of changes in the Chinese pig population.
• The FDA has not identified who was responsible for the adulteration, or where in the lengthy Chinese supply chain it occurred. The heparin in the B. Braun recall also is from the same batch discussed in a recent FDA inspection that found that Scientific Protein waited a year to investigate a complaint about possible OSCS contamination.
• Riley said the heparin ingredient was manufactured by Scientific Protein in 2006 and was determined to contain traces of OSCS by one of the company's medical industry customers, which called it to the company's attention in October 2008.
• Scientific Protein's "quality department did not initiate a formal investigation into this complaint until 9/9/09," according to the FDA inspection report. It's not clear whether the complaining customer was B. Braun.
Many of the facts of this incident remain to be seen and or made public. It is anticipated that there will be more voluntary recalls and information over the next several days.
Secure Pharma Chain is puzzled with this recent turn of events given the amount of scrutiny that the 2007/2008 Heparin crisis elicited within the government, industry and consumers world wide. It would appear that not all the bases were covered within the supply chain following the deaths of some many back in 2007/2008.
Secure Pharma Chain encourages all within the supply chain to avoid the issues of fraudulent, adulterated, sub-standard and counterfeit drugs by deploying authentication technologies to verify that their inventories are safe and efficacious.
To read the entire story, visit: http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/la-heb-heparin-recall-braun-20101027,0,2834227.story
To learn more about pharmaceutical authentication technologies, visit: http://www.xstreamsystems.net/.
Andrew Zajac from the Los Angeles Times is reporting about the recent announcement by B. Braun Medical Inc., of a recall of seven lots of the anticoagulant heparin because of concerns they may be contaminated with trace amounts of oversulfated chondroitin sulfate, or OSCS, the same substance implicated in the 2008 heparin crisis that killed or seriously sickened dozens of people.
According to the Mr. Zajac’s report:
• The company said in a statement that based on current information, the recalled lots did not pose a significant health risk, but they're being pulled from the market "with the support of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration."
• "There is not a significant public health threat," FDA spokeswoman Karen Riley said.
• The active ingredient in the suspect heparin was manufactured by Scientific Protein Laboratories Inc. of Waunakee, Wis., the same company that supplied the active ingredient for the heparin distributed by Baxter International that poisoned hundreds of patients in late 2007 and early 2008.
• Riley said B. Braun's announcement reflected a decision by Scientific Protein to recall three lots of the heparin ingredient that were distributed to manufacturers in the United States, Canada and Japan. It was not immediately clear how many, if any, other manufacturers are affected by the recall.
• Both the heparin in the poisonings and in the B. Braun recall were manufactured with raw material – pig intestines – from China. An FDA-led inquiry at the time of the heparin crisis identified OSCS as the contaminant. The substance apparently was added in an effort to stretch heparin, which is subject to significant fluctuations in supply because of changes in the Chinese pig population.
• The FDA has not identified who was responsible for the adulteration, or where in the lengthy Chinese supply chain it occurred. The heparin in the B. Braun recall also is from the same batch discussed in a recent FDA inspection that found that Scientific Protein waited a year to investigate a complaint about possible OSCS contamination.
• Riley said the heparin ingredient was manufactured by Scientific Protein in 2006 and was determined to contain traces of OSCS by one of the company's medical industry customers, which called it to the company's attention in October 2008.
• Scientific Protein's "quality department did not initiate a formal investigation into this complaint until 9/9/09," according to the FDA inspection report. It's not clear whether the complaining customer was B. Braun.
Many of the facts of this incident remain to be seen and or made public. It is anticipated that there will be more voluntary recalls and information over the next several days.
Secure Pharma Chain is puzzled with this recent turn of events given the amount of scrutiny that the 2007/2008 Heparin crisis elicited within the government, industry and consumers world wide. It would appear that not all the bases were covered within the supply chain following the deaths of some many back in 2007/2008.
Secure Pharma Chain encourages all within the supply chain to avoid the issues of fraudulent, adulterated, sub-standard and counterfeit drugs by deploying authentication technologies to verify that their inventories are safe and efficacious.
To read the entire story, visit: http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/la-heb-heparin-recall-braun-20101027,0,2834227.story
To learn more about pharmaceutical authentication technologies, visit: http://www.xstreamsystems.net/.
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