Trasylol (Aprotinin injection) Linked to Dangerous Side Effects

Trasylol (Aprotinin injection) was a drug often administered to patients undergoing bypass or open heart surgery in order to slow or prevent bleeding. Trasylol is made from the lung tissue of cattle. The FDA approved Trasylol for the use of slowing or preventing bleeding in patients undergoing bypass or open heart surgery on December 28, 1993. (See Report on Trayslol ® For Bayer Corporation and Bayer AG by Zuckerman Spaeder LLP, August 2007). On January 26, 2006, The New England Journal of Medicine released an article entitled “The Risk Associated with Aprotinin in Cardiac Surgery,” discussing the association between aprotinin and serious end-organ damage, which suggested that the continued use of Trasylol was not prudent. . On February 8, 2006, the FDA issued a Public Health Advisory concerning Aprotinin injection (marketed as Trasylol). The FDA Advisory cautioned physicians who use Trasylol “should carefully monitory patients for the occurrence of toxicity, particularly to the kidneys, heart, or central nervous system and promptly report adverse event information to Bayer, the drug manufacturer, or to the FDA MedWatch program. . .”

Finally, on November 5, 2007, the FDA announced that Bayer Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of Trasylol, would suspend the marketing of this drug until a comprehensive review could be performed of a Canadian study showing an increased risk of death.  In February 2008, 60 Minutes reported on Trasylol and its adverse effects. Click here to watch the 60 Minutes investigative report on Trasylol. If you, or someone you know, have experienced kidney failure, heart attack, myocardial infarction, stroke, death, or brain injury, you may have been administered the drug Trasylol ® and have suffered a side effect.

Please contact the law firm of Lusk, Caldwell & Dean, P.C. for a free case evaluation.