UPDATE: Baxter Heparin Not Tied To Deaths At Delaware Hospital

Baxter International Inc. (BAX) said Friday it has finished investigating the deaths of two patients who took the company's heparin products and found quality issues didn't relate to their deaths.

An array of forensic and analytical tests verify the heparin products were pure and didn't contain any contaminants, Deerfield, Ill.-based Baxter said in a statement.

Baxter flew a team of physicians, pharmacists and nurses to Beebe Medical Center in Lewes, Del., within 24 hours of receiving reports last week that three patients at the hospital suffered from intracranial bleeding. Two of the patients died. The company said the intracranial bleeding was a result of other complications suffered by the patients unrelated to heparin.

"Following extensive product testing and further medical evaluation, we are confident that the events at Beebe Medical Center are unfortunate, isolated, institution-specific issues, unrelated to the quality of Baxter's heparin," said Camille Farhat of Baxter in a statement.

The company said its investigation, as well as one by U.S. Food and Drug Administration, proves heparin is still safe and effective to use. FDA spokeswoman Karen Riley said the agency collected samples of the heparin, did quality tests, and determined there is no quality problems with the drug.

When news of the patients getting sick while on heparin surfaced last weekend, it sparked concerns about a repeat of a fatal heparin contamination in 2008. Baxter said the heparin in this case didn't come from China, but was purchased in bulk-form at a North American plant through Pfizer Inc. (PFE).

These complications involved premixed intravenous bags of heparin. Last year's problems involved bulk supplies, vials of the medicine and drug-coated medical devices. Heparin is largely derived from the intestines of pigs and, because China is a major pork producer, it also is a major producer of the bulk chemical used in heparin.

-By Jared A. Favole, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9207; [e-mail]