NEWS FOR HEPARIN PATIENTS
Feds plea bargain with heparin syringe underlings for indicted CEO on the lam
February 24, 2009 -- Two former employees of a North Carolina medical supply company that shipped bacteria-laden syringes prefilled with the blood thinner heparin were sentenced yesterday after their products reportedly killed five and sickened hundreds of patients.
Many of the heparin patients affected were people on dialysis, receiving chemotherapy for cancer or other forms of leukemia.
The relatively light sentence, 54 months' imprisonment, was dealt to the two in exchange for information about the company’s chief executive officer, Dr. Dushyant Patel, a Chicago radiologist who was believed to have fled to his homeland of India.
Dr. Patel was indicted last week on 10 charges, including fraud, selling adulterated medical devices, and making false statements to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) when his company applied in 2003 to market syringes pre-filled with heparin.
Investigators charge the heparin-filled syringes discovered inside the doctor’s facility had been misbranded, and that the company failed to have adequate controls for ensuring sterility of the syringes. Heparin is a blood thinner that prevents the formation of blood clots and is used to keep central intravenous lines from clotting.
"The crimes committed by [the defendants] constitute the most fundamental breach of the public's trust," said a U.S. Attorney prosecuting the case. "Citizens in this country trust that producers of medical devices aren't lying when they say that have adequately tested a given product.
"As we've seen in this case, such lies can literally mean the difference between life and death. I hope this case sends a message to medical device makers everywhere: If you cut corners, and violate the public's trust, we'll bring you to justice," he said.
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