Photo courtesy of Wikipedia/Illustartion by DigitalJournal.com Heparin: Americans might be the latest victims of lethal Chinese drug. image:38862:3::0

Heparin, the controversial blood thinning drug, is getting even thinner on its reputation. Today the Food and Drug administration has cited triple the number of suspected deaths linked to Heparin- going from 19 to 62.
They are investigating allergic reactions and deaths, focusing on a possible contaminant from China that was added to the drug during the manufacturing process.

The contaminant additive-oversulfated chondroitin sulfate- is hard to spot because it is very much like the Heparin drug. Some investigators are looking into the possibility of a link to counterfeiting because the contaminant is cheaper to produce than the actual drug.

So far, no deaths have been reported since the initial findings in February. That is mostly because Baxter International, the manufacturer of the drug, did a total recall that month.