Heparin contamination appears deliberate: Baxter CEO

WASHINGTON (AFP) — US drug-maker Baxter International said Tuesday its blood thinner heparin, which is produced in China and has been linked to dozens of deaths, appears to have been deliberately contaminated.

"We're alarmed that one of our products was used in what appears to have been a deliberate scheme to adulterate a life-saving medication, and that people have suffered as a result," Baxter chief executive Robert Parkinson told a US Congress panel.

"We deeply regret that this has happened, and I feel a strong sense of personal responsibility for these circumstances," he told a subpanel of the House of Representatives' Energy and Commerce Committee.

"Patient safety is our number one priority, and we deeply regret the impact this contamination in Baxter's heparin has had on patients," Parkinson told the subcommittee on oversight and investigations.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) first received reports of ...