The Sad Tale of A Drug that May Have Caused the Death of 22,000 Patients
Trasylol was a huge money maker for Bayer, the German based drug manufacturer best known for its popular aspirin used by many Americans. Bayer made millions each year off of Trasylol, a drug used to control bleeding during operations. It was the choice of many doctors who performed cardiac bypass surgery. Nearly 1/3 of all such heart operations relied upon Trasylol, also called aprotinin, to control bleeding during this long and complex procedure.
Trasylol was forced from the market by the FDA in late 2007 amid reports of serious kidney and heart complications sometimes resulting in death for patients given the drug. Bayer apparently knew for more than 20 years that there may have been serious health risks associated with Trasylol, yet it ignored the warning signs. Two years ago, the FDA issued a Public Health Advisory alerting doctors who perform heart bypass surgery, and their patients, that Trasylol had been linked in two scientific publications to higher risks of serious side effects including kidney problems, heart attacks and strokes in patients who undergo coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. Unfortunately, the FDA waited nearly 2 years to stop Bayer from marketing and selling it.
The result of waiting nearly 2 years to pull Trasylol off of the market? Quite possibly, 1,000 lives a month, or 22,000 deaths. More on this tragedy in our next blog.