Trasylol Pulled From Worldwide Market
60 Minutes recently reported that the drug, Trasylol, may be linked to the deaths of thousands of patients at the height of its use over a period of many years. It had been given to as many as a third of all heart bypass patients in the United States alone. The physician behind the study, Dr. Dennis Mangano, estimates that as many as 1,000 people died per month as a result of Trasylol during coronary bypass surgery. From the time of the publication of his article in January, 2006 until the drug's withdrawal in November, 2007 more than 22,000 patients may have lost their lives.
Trasylol is an antifibrinolytic agent, which is used during cardiac surgery to reduce the risk of blood transfusions. However, two alternative drugs exist, which are substantially less expensive than Trasylol. According to recent articles and Dr. Mangano's study, these alternatives are equally effective in reducing the risk of requiring blood transfusions due to blood loss and present none of the health risks linked to Trasylol. Two further studies confirmed that Trasylol causes an increased risk of death and kidney damage compared to alternative medicines or taking no medicine at all. The stories were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Trasylol had been on the market for 14 years and was made by Bayer. Estimates show that worldwide over four and a half million people have been given the drug -- about a third of them were Americans. Bayer aggressively marketed Trasylol and was being used in about 1/3 of all cardiac bypass operations. Trasylol is now off the market, but can still be used in special cases during surgery.
If you or a loved one has been injured as a result of Trasylol, you may be entitled to receive compensation for your medical bills, pain and suffering, and other damages. Drug manufacturers should be responsible for evaluating the safety of their products before promoting and marketing them. Failure to do so makes them liable for any injuries or deaths caused as a result.