DOH: Contaminated heparin eyed behind NKTI patients’ chills

Contaminated heparin is being eyed as the cause of the chills experienced by at least 44 patients at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute in late May.

This was the initial finding of the Food and Drug Administration, an agency under the Department of Health, GMA News' Mark Salazar reported on "24 Oras" Tuesday.

The US National Institutes of Health defines heparin — a sodium solution used in dialysis machines — as a medication "used to prevent blood clots from forming in people who have certain medical conditions or who are undergoing certain medical procedures that increase the chance that clots will form."

"We have withdrawn all of those, lahat, hindi lang sa batch na yan o lot na yun. Lahat na, they have spread out in the Philippines. And then we are going to do further study and see how is the extent of the contamination," Health Secretary Enrique Ona said.

The "24 Oras" report said the manufacturer and distributors of the contaminated brand had been notified. The DOH, however, declined to identify them while the probe is ongoing.

"We are looking into how we will proceed and discuss this kasi nga there is certainly a penalty that will be given to the manufacturer or the distributor. Pinag-aaralan natin," Ona said.

Meanwhile, the DOH is looking into whether there were other kidney patients who experienced chills in other dialysis centers nationwide.

This is part of its investigation into the particular brand of heparin, the report said.

"We are also looking into other medicines ng itong manufacturer na ito has been approved in the Philippines, but we have to double check also to make sure na it's not just the heparin," Ona said.

Since the NKTI's outpatient hemodialysis unit was reopened last June 9, there had been no report of patients experiencing chills. —Joel Locsin/KBK, GMA News