Actor Dennis Quaid and his wife, Kimberly Buffington, have filed a lawsuit against Baxter International Inc, alleging that the company’s Heparin products were kept in bottles with confusing labels. Quaid’s newborn twins received an overdose of the blood thinning drug after a hospital employee mistakenly gave the twins an adult dose of the drug instead of one meant for children.

Quaid testifies before Congress

Quaid took his case one step further by testifying in front of Congress about the dangers of federal preemption. According to news reports, he said preempting lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies makes the “public uninformed and uncompensated lab rats.” The Bush Administration supports federal preemption of drug and medical device lawsuits.

Others disagree and say that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is severely under funded and that the FDA itself has said that it cannot adequately do its job. They point to the Heparin controversy in which the FDA did not inspect the Chinese factory that produced contaminated Heparin that led to at least 81 deaths and nearly 800 severe injuries.

Can the FDA do more?

Even though the death toll from contaminated Heparin has decreased, the controversy over what happened – and how to prevent it from happening again continues. The FDA has said that it remains uncertain as to whether the contaminated Heparin was responsible for the deaths and injuries being associated with the Chinese product.

The FDA said that it hopes to beef up its efforts to inspect factories in China, India, Europe and South America where many food and drug products originate before making their way to U.S. consumers. While the FDA says those efforts should be in place by later this year, consumer advocate groups have expressed concern as the agency did not receive the increase in funding that was requested.

If you or a loved one was given Heparin, contact an attorney whose practice focuses in this area of the law. Consultations are free, without obligation and are strictly confidential. To contact a qualified attorney, please click here. We may be able to help.