Chinese Counterfeiting may be linked to heparin deaths

Food and Drug Administration’s center for drug evaluation and research, have identified a contaminant in batches of the blood thinner heparin associated with 19 deaths and is at the point in concluding that the US might be the latest victims of lethal Chinese drug counterfeiting.The unapproved ingredient altered to mimic the real thing in the blood thinner heparin is oversulfated chondroitin sulfate, a chemical that does not occur naturally.Chondroitin sulfate is a dietary supplement made from animal cartilage that is commonly used to treat joint pain.Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of the Food and Drug Administration’s center for drug evaluation and research said that they cannot said definitely whether the contaminant,oversulfated chondroitin sulfate, was introduced intentionally or by accident.