Safety Concerns with Blood Thinners
Officials suspect that the blood thinner heparin played a role in the death of a baby earlier in the summer. The 23-month-old Texan girl was born with a birth defect and had to have transplants for her small intestine, pancreas, and liver. The girl and her family traveled to Omaha, Nebraska to receive treatment at a hospital known for its intestinal rehabilitation and transplant services. The girl returned to the hospital with an apparent infection and passed away.
The hospital believes that an overdose of heparin contributed to her death. The girl's father stated that his daughter received the wrong dose for five hours before hospital workers noticed. Unfortunately, this has been a frequent occurrence with heparin. In 2008, a Texas hospital reported that 14 infants in neonatal intensive care suffered from heparin overdoses and two died. A USA Today study in 2006 found the same problem with six babies at an Indiana hospital and three died. If unsafe drugs or the improper administration of drugs has led to injury for you or a loved one, a Boston or Washington DC injury lawyer can help you obtain compensation for your suffering.
How Blood Thinners Work and Their Effects
Hospitals use blood thinners like heparin, warfarin, Plavix, or even common aspirin to keep blood from clotting. Blood thinners can prevent strokes, heart attacks, deep vein thrombosis, and pulmonary embolism. When hospitals hook patients up to intravenous (IV) bags, blood thinners ensure that medical equipment works properly. If a patient's blood clots, medical instruments and IV lines fail to work properly.
Aspirin may not be strong enough in certain situations so hospitals sometimes have to resort to more powerful, prescription blood thinners. Heparin, for example, offers the advantage that doctors can inject it directly into blood clots to dissolve them. Patients must take most other blood thinners orally which means the drugs cannot dissolve clots but only prevent them.
The following are some of the common medical problems patients encounter with blood thinners:
- Dangerous interactions between blood thinners and other drugs or even common foods
- Severe bleeding if cut or bruised
- Injuries from medical errors and improper administration of the drugs
- Common side effects involving headaches, abdominal pain, or indigestion
- Unknown side effects because scientists have not yet performed long term studies with the drugs
- For more senior patients, many of these problems are more severe
For blood thinners to work, healthcare professionals must be meticulous in how they administer them. Unfortunately, problems with blood thinners like heparin have been all over the news in recent years and many patients have died or suffered great pain. Contact a Washington or Boston injury attorney at Pollack & Flanders, LLP if medical negligence has caused you suffering.