Quoted from http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aaDmNquvTq1o
Baxter Faces Dozens of New Suits Over Tainted Heparin
By Andrew M. Harris
Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Baxter International Inc., which recalled its blood thinner heparin amid reports of allergic reactions and deaths in 2008, faces at least 30 lawsuits in Chicago by injured people or their estates.
As many as 300 product-liability complaints may be filed in the Illinois state court, plaintiffs’ attorney Allen Schwartz of Kralovec, Jambois & Schwartz said today in a phone interview. His law firm and two others are working to comply with a judge’s order last year to convert an aggregate lawsuit to individual claims against the Deerfield, Illinois-based company.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration requested new manufacturing standards for the blood thinner in 2008 after the problems were linked to tainted ingredients from China.
“This is an actual contaminant that got into the product,” Schwartz said.
Baxter, which at the time supplied about 50 percent of the blood thinner and anticoagulant used in the U.S., began a voluntary recall after its monitors noticed an increase in reports of allergic reactions to injections of the drug, said Erin Gardiner, a company spokeswoman, in a phone interview today.
