In February Baxter recalled thousands of bottles of the blood thinner drug heparin. The recall was issued after some of the drugs were linked to four deaths and countless allergic reactions. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is inspecting the Baxter facility in New Jersey, a Scientific Protein Laboratories facility in Wisconsin, and a factory in Changzhou, China for signs of contamination. There is a lot of suspicion focused on the Chinese factory, which is being inspected both independently and jointly with the United States by the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA). Apparently, the factory in Changzhou was not inspected by the FDA because of a mix-up with names and was not inspected by the SFDA because it is currently classified as a chemical manufacturer, not pharmaceutical.
Though the SFDA is cooperating with the United States’ inquiry into the contamination, the cause of the bad reactions has still not been determined.