New Guidelines to Avoid Heparin Contamination

US regulators on Friday issued new guidelines for safe production of blood thinner heparin.

US regulators on Friday issued new guidelines for safe production of blood thinner heparin.

Heparin, a blood thinner used by millions of patients during kidney dialysis and heart surgery to prevent blood clots, is normally produced from pig intestines.

Anticoagulation Therapy / Blood Thinners - Injectable - Oral - Indications
Anticoagulants prevent the clotting of blood in our body. They are administered orally or via injection.

After reports of allergic reactions to heparin began appearing in November 2007, the US Food and Drug Administration found that a substitute synthetic compound called oversulfated chondroitin sulfate (OSCS) had caused the toxic reactions.

Chinese officials rejected the FDA's conclusions, saying the chemical had nothing to do with the allergies and deaths, but the FDA began testing heparin imports for OSCS in 2008 to assure safety of the drug stocks.

The new guidelines are directed toward companies who use crude heparin to manufacture drugs and medical devices.

Blood Group Calculator
Blood group calculator gives you a detailed outlook of various blood groups, and also calculates the blood group of a child based on their parent’s blood group and Rh type.

Manufacturers are urged to test the origin of crude heparin to make sure it comes from pigs, test for OSCS in each shipment before using it, and know who handles the crude heparin along each step of the process.

"Substitution of non-porcine sources of crude heparin raises concerns," said the FDA, particularly due to the risk of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, infiltrating products.

User Friendly Blood Thinners Expected to Substitute Coumadin
In the near future, a new generation of easy-to-use blood-thinning drugs will probably substitute Coumadin for patients with irregular heartbeats who are at risk for stroke, states medical journal.

"The control of the animal origin of crude heparin is critical to ensure the safety of drugs and devices that contain heparin and to protect public health."

The guidelines are subject to a 60-day review and comment period and are not legally enforceable during this period.

'Clot-Busters' Work The Same as Traditional Blood Thinners In Treating Lung Blood Clots
Although so-called clot-busting drugs are commonly used in the treatment of some patients with blood clots in the lungs, a new study conducted by researchers in Spain and the U.

Source-AFP