FDA ties Baxter to Heparin deaths

The Food and Drug Administration's final analysis of 93 deaths in patients given heparin conclusively links some with a contaminant in the blood-thinning drug.

That's according to a report in the Chicago Tribune. The newspaper reports, however, that in most cases the deaths were either unrelated or lacked evidence to determine a cause.

According to the Tribune, three deaths were traced to a substance called oversulfated chondroitin in specific lots of heparin made by Deerfield, Illinois-based Baxter International.

Dr. Janet Woodcock of the FDA says the agency has found "what looks like a cause and effect in some patients."

The FDA says 13 deaths resulted from potential heparin complications, 25 were from unrelated causes, and the cause was uncertain in 45 patients.