Oh, Lovely...

From the Wall Street Journal (4/18/09):

WASHINGTON -- Two Chinese-based firms shipped contaminated heparin to the U.S. between 2007 and 2008 and one company lied to federal health regulators about their role in the matter, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

The contaminated heparin, a widely used blood thinner, didn't reach any patients because the FDA stopped all the shipments at the border, according to FDA spokespeople.

I get a dose of Heparin at the end of each chemo cycle to insure that the catheter in my neck doesn't get blocked with coagulated blood. Nothing like these kinds of stories to re-affirm one's faith in modern medicine. :p