More Questions, No Answers About the Case of the Deadly Heparin - Some Congressmen Weigh In

In 2008, we started posting on how the "active pharmaceutical ingredient" of heparin made in China under apparently primitive conditions, contaminated accidentally or deliberately, was sold in the US bearing the label of a large American pharmaceutical company. Ultimately, many patients were sickened, or died. A summary of our posts on the topic, in smaller type, is below.

- We have posted several times, recently here and here, about the tragic case of suddenly allergenic heparin. Although heparin, an intravenous biologic anti-coagulant, has been in use for over 70 years, serious allergic reactions to it had heretofore been rare. Starting late last year, hundreds of such reactions, and now 21 deaths were reported in the US after intravenous heparin infusions.All the heparin related to these events in the US was made by Baxter International.

- We then learned that although the heparin carried the Baxter label, it was not really made by Baxter. The company had outsourced production of the active ingredient to a long, and ultimately mysterious supply chain. Baxter got the active ingredient from a US company, Scientific Protein Laboratories LLC, which in turn obtained it from a factory in China operated by Changzhou SPL, which in turn was owned by Scientific Protein Laboratories and by Changzhou Techpool Pharmaceutical Co. Changzhou SPL, in turn, got it from several consolidators or wholesalers, who in turn got it from numerous small, unidentified "workshops," which seemed to produce the product in often primitive and unsanitary conditions. None of the stops in the Chinese supply chain had apparently been inspected by the US Food and Drug Administration nor its Chinese counterpart.

- Most recently, we found out that the Baxter International labelled heparin was contaminated with over-sulfated chondroitin sulfate, a substance not found in nature, but which mimics heparin according to the simple laboratory tests used in the Chinese facilities to check incoming heparin. (See post here.) Further testing revealed that the contamination seemed to have taken place in China prior to the provision of the heparin to Changzhou SPL. (See post here.) It is not clear whether Baxter International or Scientific Protein Laboratories had inspected most of the steps in the supply chain, or even knew what went on there.

- The Baxter and Scientific Protein Laboratories CEOs did not seem aware of where they got the heparin on which the Baxter International label was eventually affixed. But one report in the New York Times alleged that Scientific Protein Laboratories would not pay enough for heparin to satisfy any sources other than the small "workshops."

- Leaders of all organizations involved, Baxter International, Scientific Protein Laboratories, Changzhou SPL, the Chinese government, and the US Food and Drug Administration, and the US Congress assigned blame to each other, but none took individual or organizational responsibility. (See post here.)

- Researchers (who turned out to have financial ties to a company which is developing an anti-coagulant drug that could compete with the heparin made by Baxter International) investigated the biological mechanisms by which the contamination of the heparin lead to adverse effects, but no one investigated further how the contamination occurred, or who was responsible.  (See post here.)

- Hundreds of lawsuits against Baxter have now been filed, so far without resolution.  (See post here.)

- A recent government report which attracted little attention warned of the dangers of pharmaceutical ingredients made in China and subject to virtually no oversight. (See post here.)

Last week, minority (Republican) members of a committee of the US House of Representatives sent a letter to the Commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) raising a number of concerns of its investigation of contaminated heparin from China.  The letter was summarized in http://www.theheart.org/ (here), but so far has not been noticed by any main-stream media outlets.  The main concerns raised in the letter were:

1. The FDA has not adequately followed up specific and credible information linking Chinese heparin firms to counterfeit heparin or contaminated heparin in several different supply chains.
2. The FDA inspected several Chinese heparin firms in 2008 and 2009 for regulatory compliance issues but did not conduct these inspections consistently and adequately for determining the source of the heparin contamination.
3. The FDA has not adequately followed up with the Chinese government about the heparin contamination-source investigation.

Curiously, though, most of the letter detailed concerns about an FDA inspection of a company called Chongqing Imperial Bio-Chem Co, Ltd, which appears to be separate from any of the firms mentioned above which seemed to be involved with the heparin ultimately sold in the US under the Baxter label.  In fact, I have not seen to date any report on the contamination of that heparin, supposedly whose active ingredient Baxter obtained from  a US company, Scientific Protein Laboratories LLC, which in turn obtained it from a factory in China operated by Changzhou SPL, which in turn was owned by Scientific Protein Laboratories and by Changzhou Techpool Pharmaceutical Co. Changzhou SPL, in turn, got it from several consolidators or wholesalers, who in turn got it from numerous small, unidentified "workshops," which seemed to produce the product in often primitive and unsanitary conditions.  Nor have I seen any report on the responsibility of any of these parties for the purity and safety of the heparin.  In particular, given that the heparin was sold in containers with the Baxter International label, and hence given that the doctors, nurses and pharmacists involved in its administration likely thought that it was actually made by Baxter, I have not seen any further discussion of that company's responsibility to provide a pure, safe, unadulterated product to its US patients. 

And all this still begs the question that most of the coverage of the deadly heparin also begged. Are American pharmaceutical companies so besotted with the need for cost-savings that they are willing to buy active pharmaceutical ingredients with unknown provenance overseas as if they were a pig in a poke? If so, why do we allow company leadership to potentially sacrifice quality, and sell adulterated drugs just to enrich their bottom lines (and their executives' salaries)?

As a postscript, a report last week in a New York Times blog reminds us of the monetary stakes here:

A drug harvested from pigs’ intestines has made a low-profile Chinese couple the nation’s wealthiest overnight. Husband and wife Li Li and Li Tan’s Shenzhen Hepalink Pharmaceutical sold 10 percent of its shares this week in an I.P.O. that values their stake at about $6.2 billion, The Financial Times reported.

The I.P.O. also earned Goldman Sachs a near 200-fold profit on its original $5 million investment.

According to the newspaper, analysts say Hepalink’s high valuation is a result of the company being the only one in China that is accredited by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration [presumably after the above case of the deadly heparin] to export the 'active pharmaceutical ingredient' heparin after it has been harvested.

This amount of money sloshing around suggests that the reason this case remains so persistently anechoic is fear of offending those who have been getting very rich from the products of pigs' intestines.

I hope that more investigators with intestinal fortitude step in to investigate the out-sourcing of drug production to dubious suppliers before more patients are poisoned.