Dennis Quaid Goes To Congress
Dennis Quaid spoke to Congress about the incident which almost cost him his baby twins lives.
Quaid is suing Baxter because the labels on the drug Heparin for low and high dosages looked very much the same which led to the overdose given his babies. Baxter was aware of the problem and was fixing it. What they did not do however, was to recall labels that were already on the market and in the hospitals. He argues that just because the FDA approves a drug does not mean it’s safe. Sometimes a problem won’t arise until it’s on the market.
The defense is saying that states should not have the right to hold drug companies responsible if the federal government gives approval for a drug.
Dennis Quaid has said that the courts are the only road to justice for families that have fallen victim to this kind of mistake.
Heparin Contamination Not Accidental
It has become clear that the contamination of the drug Heparin was deliberate. It is also clear that our friends in China where the contamination took place, are not going to allow us to get to the bottom of exactly who did it. China says that they want the right to inspect our drug factories if we expect to be able to inspect theirs. Huh? The Chinese are way out of line on this and as a country whose people are supposed to be so honorable, seem to throw out that honor when money is involved. You see while heparin costs $900 a pound, the contaminant costs only$9.00 a pound. You do the math.
The US is not the only country that was affected by this contamination so I am anxious to see what action other countries will take against this company in China. I also wonder how far the Chinese government will go to protect guilty parties.
B. Braun Recalls Batches of Heparin
Since January 19 people have died as a result of being given the contaminated blood thinner, heparin. My own mother was in the hospital being given this drug in her IV when they came into her room and removed the drug for testing. They said it was OK and gave it back to her.
The problem was, as I understand it was that it was contaminated with something that so closely resembled heparin it passed tests as uncontaminated. The drugs were made in China and distributed here. They were not sure where the contamination took place, nor were they sure if it was purposefully done or a natural reaction of some kind.