Heart Stopping--Dialysis Drug Connected to Metabolic Alkalosis

IRVINE, Calif. - April 8, 2013 - PRLog -- Irvine, CA—Just a few years’ time can completely change the way a pharmaceutical drug is perceived by the medical community and the public at large.  GranuFlo, a dialysate made by Fresenius Medical Care (FMC), is one such drug.  As a dialysate, GranuFlo was created to serve as a chemical composite in hemodialysis treatment, working in tandem with a dialyzer (or dialysis machine) to rid the patient’s blood of toxic buildup.  An individual needs hemodialysis, as it is well known, when he or she cannot cleanse their blood naturally due to a kidney problem, such as acute kidney failure.

When it first hit the market, GranuFlo and its sister product NaturaLyte were so popular that over 30% of the 400,000 American people on hemodialysis began using the drugs in their treatments.  Over the period of just a few years, however, the drugs developed a strong link to metabolic alkalosis, a medical condition caused by an overdose of bicarbonates, or carbonic acid.  The link became so consistent that the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) issued out a Class I Recall of GranuFlo, the most serious recall in the governmental regulator’s power, on March 29, 2012.  The FDA stated, in a national letter: “Inappropriate prescription of these products can lead to a high serum bicarbonate level in patients undergoing hemodialysis. This may contribute to metabolic alkalosis, which is a significant risk factor associated with low blood pressure, hypokalemia, hypoxemia, hypercapnia and cardiac arrhythmia, which, if not appropriately treated, may culminate in cardiopulmonary arrest. This product may cause serious adverse health consequences, including death” (for more information: http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/Safety/AlertsandNotices...).  

As the FDA makes clear, metabolic alkalosis causes cardiopulmonary problems like heart failure and strokes because of the over abundance of bicarbonate levels in patients’ blood streams.  Because FMC manufactures GranuFlo and this drug has been consistently observed and linked to metabolic alkalosis, hundreds of former patients who survived GranuFlo treatment have stepped forward to make allegations against the manufacturer in a MDL, or Multi-District Litigation.  The problem for FMC is the abundance of evidence confirming that on November 4th, 2011, the company issued an internal memo—later intercepted by the FDA—that warned only 1,800 dialysis treatment centers in FMC’s network of the 941 accounts of cardiopulmonary arrest observed in GranuFlo patients who were being treated in the FMC dialysis centers.  For more information, visit: http://www.drug-injury.com/druginjurycom/2012/10/granuflo....

Bond & Taylor is a sophisticated, experienced law group composed of the finest in the way of defective drug and personal injury attorneys.  Those who have experienced metabolic alkalosis and resultant cardiopulmonary issues, and/or other side effects that have been observed to result from GranuFlo treatment, should consider contacting the law offices of Bond & Taylor for a free legal consultation leading—for eligible inquirers—to legal representation against Fresenius Medical Care.

Contact:
Bond & Taylor, LLC
Candice McGurk, Managing Attorney
1 (800) 471-0314
www.bondtaylorinjurylawyers.com