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An altered version of a dietary supplement made from animal cartilage is now at the center of the worldwide drug safety investigation.
FDA officials said the man-made chemical compound known as over-sulfated chondroitin sulfate is cheap and abundant. It mimics heparin when tested, but is not naturally occurring and not something that would be part of the normal production chain for heparin.
Heparin's raw ingredients come from pig intestines, but today, Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said the contaminant "didn't come straight from the pig."
Still, investigators "cannot rule in or out" whether the contaminant was accidentally or deliberately put into the product, Woodcock said.
The FDA also emphasized it is not yet certain whether the contaminant is the root cause of the recent spike in severe allergic reactions and as many as 19 deaths that may have been associated with the blood thinner.
"Right now, people should not be alarmed," Woodcock said. "We have not received any more reports of fatalities of this type since the recall on Feb. 28."
Source
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=4481168&page=1
Not be Alarmed? People have died I think we have the right to be alarmed. I think it is about time that the FDA starts doing its job.
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