Baxter Dialysis Filter

On Novemeber 5, 2001, Baxter International Inc. said that its recalled dialysis filters appear to have played a role in recent patient deaths being investigated in several countries. As a result Baxter said it has idled two production plants and decided to discontinue the products in question. Expecting numerous lawsuits from patients' families, Baxter has set aside $100 million to $150 million for litigation and related expenses.

Baxter, recalled the filters in mid-October, said they believe that a chemical used in routine testing at its manufacturing plant in Ronneby, Sweden, may have played a role in many of the deaths. Previously Baxter International, based in Deerfield, Illinois, said it found nothing to indicate its products were at fault in the dialysis patients' deaths. The fluid, a chemical solution known as 5070, is used to test for leaks and somehow was not fully removed from all filters before being packaged and shipped and evidently entered patients' bloodstreams, officials indicated.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other health authorities are investigating 51 deaths, including 23 in Croatia, 15 in Spain, seven in Taiwan, two in Colombia and two each in Texas and Nebraska. All were using Baxter dialysis filters, or dialyzers, which help remove waste from the blood of patients with failed kidneys.

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