Heparin Deaths

In February of 2008, Attorney Donald J. Nolan and I began our advocacy with respect to the absolutely outrageous actions of Baxter and SPL with respect to the importation without quality controls of the intravenous drug Heparin. The FDA had just recalled nine lots of heparin because it appeared to be killing people. Over time the recall grew and our advocacy spread to representing dozens of the families of those that had died as a result of this catastrophe. Our advocacy at http://heparin-law.com spawned the first wrongful death claim against Baxter filed in its home state of Illinois, the case of plaintiff, Mark Scott, against Baxter International, Inc., et. al., That first Cook County case has grown in size and scope.

To date, more than 150 plaintiffs have sued in Cook County, Illinois, for damages arising from personal injury and strict product liability caused by the administration of contaminated Heparin. In addition to Baxter, other Heparin drug manufacturers have been named as defendants in these actions, such as Medefil Inc., Covidien, Inc. and B. Braun Medical, Inc., just to name a few. All of these cases have been consolidated with the Honorable Judge Jennifer Duncan-Brice, who attorney Nolan as lead counsel for the consolidated state court cases.

I remember the first conversation between Attorney Nolan and myself. He had sent me a newspaper clipping from the Chicago Tribune talking about the initial recall. I knew very little about heparin, but it was clear from the beginning that Baxter was involved in something serious and severe. When I began to dig, it became clear that rarely had American Justice seen such a clear cut case of product liability. Despite knowing that heparin would be put in the veins of our sickest people, Baxter delegated the manufacture of this drug to a Chinese manufacturer who knew nothing about the drug and cared even less about its purity.

With this continued advocacy on behalf of those harmed by this reckless quality control of heparin, we hope that ultimately justice will be done for those harmed. We also hope that Corporate America, make that Corporate World, will learn that safety must come first. The lesson that should never have been learned? If you are talking about a pharmaceutical – sterility and purity is an absolute.

In our next blog, we will discuss some of the procedural issues in the pending Cook County actions.

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Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

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