For All Those Whose Docs Say that Fingersticks Don't Give Accurate Results

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Durham, NC -- October 6, 2005 -- BioMerieux, Inc, Durham, North Carolina, U.S.A., has issued a worldwide voluntary correction recall of VeriCal® Calibrator Sets because they are mislabeled and could result in misdiagnosis or injury to patients serious illness or death from erroneous calibration data leading to use of improper levels of oral anticoagulant drugs. These sets calibrate laboratory tests that are used to monitor a patient's anticoagulation therapy. reviewed its worldwide voluntary correction recall of VeriCal® Calibrator Set made during August, 2005 and is reclassifying this as a Class I for the lots involved.

The FDA has classified this August, 2005 action as a Class I recall. In a class I recall, there is a reasonable probability that the malfunctioning device will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.
All customers who have received a shipment of the concerned lot numbers of VeriCal® Calibrator Set must immediately stop using the originally published Multichannel Discrete Analyzer® (MDA), Coag-a-Mate® MAX and Coag-a-Mate® MTX specific ISI values and immediately implement the corrected ISI values.

Corrected published ISI values have been supplied to all customers who have received the concerned VeriCal® Calibrator Set lot numbers.
This recall involves the following VeriCal® Calibrator Set Product catalog number 252585 and lot numbers: 161909,161813,161907 and 161908 when used with Simplastin® HTF and Simplastin® L.
The VeriCal® Calibrator Set is used for calibration of Prothrombin Time (PT) and Activated Partial Thromboplastin Time (APTT) for coagulation assays used in medical laboratory diagnostic testing. Results of the Prothrombin Time, reported in International Normalized Ratio (INR) units, are utilized in the monitoring of oral anticoagulant therapy. This product has been found to be mislabeled, in that the specific International Sensitivity Index (ISI) label values published in the packaging were mislabeled for the Multichannel Discrete Analyzer (MDA), Coag-a-Mate MAX and Coag-a-Mate MTX testing analyzer platforms. The ISI label values are utilized by medical diagnostic laboratories to calculate the reported patient's Prothrombin Time INR value. This INR value is utilized by physicians to monitor patient's effective oral anticoagulant therapy response. This mislabeling of the ISI value provided to clinical laboratories could result in discrepant INR values being reported for
patients who are receiving oral anticoagulant therapy. While no injuries have been reported to date, t his could lead to either under treatment or over treatment with oral anticoagulant drugs, putting patients in life-threatening situations. This could adversely impact patient therapy.


Corrected published ISI values have been supplied to all customers who have received the concerned VeriCal® Calibrator Set lot numbers.

All customers who have received a shipment of the concerned lot numbers of VeriCal® Calibrator Set must immediately stop using the originally published Multichannel Discrete Analyzer® (MDA), Coag-a-Mate® MAX and Coag-a-Mate® MTX specific ISI values and immediately implement the corrected ISI values.

This recall involves the following VeriCal® Calibrator Set Product catalog number 252585 and lot numbers: 161909,161813,161907 and 161908 when used with Simplastin® HTF and Simplastin® L. B

BioMerieux has notified the FDA, and has been working with the FDA to coordinate all recall activities.
While no injuries have been reported to date, there is the potential for therapeutic consequences in the routine control of oral anticoagulant therapy.

The product was distributed worldwide, including 437 customers in the US . The recalled product can be identified by product catalog number 252585 the product name, VeriCal® Calibrator Set , on the package label.


This is a major screwup. They don't say how many labs world-wide are affected but 437 in the US are. It looks like the manufacturer has been stonewalling the FDA fior two months already. One has to wonder how many people have been harmed or died by inaccurate warfarin and heparin readings.

This is a screwup that people who use fingersticks do not have to worry about because each test has its own fail-safe chip and/or runs its own quality check each time.

Please look at my website for advice on what to do. http://www.warfarinfo.com/qod101405.htm
 
Curious as to how long this has REALLY been going on. Maybe this has something to do with all those discrepancies in lab results vs home testing we've been discussing. Sure glad I go by my INRatio and not the lab tests I have every few months to keep my doctor happy. ;) ;)
 
Everybody who has been getting fluctuating lab results from venipunctures should probably call the lab and get at statement that they have not used that calibration solution.

This would also make heparin magamement is hospitals very difficult.

Remember that at just one hospital (St. Agnes in Philadelphia) a few years ago several people were hospitalized and one or two died because they miscalabrated their analyzer.
 
Al:
Good materials once again. Today I was trying to find the 2001 article about the lab errors at St Agnes Hospital in Philadelphia. As many as 932 people may have received incorrect doses of Coumadin between June 4 and July 25, 2001 because the lab didn't make the proper adjustments when the ISI changed for different batches of reagents used in p/t testing. Two people died. People were given higher doses than they needed. I remember giving Albert's doctor a copy of the AP articles and saying something like, "Nice Gold standard ya all got there doc." The article said, in part:

"St. Agnes Medical Center incorrectly interpreted a test used to measure blood clotting, leading dozens of patients to receive overdoses of a blood thinner. Two people died as a result, the city medical examiner ruled.

THe lab error involved the prothrombin time (PT) test which measures blood thickness. Physicians routinely use the test and the International Normalized Ratio to monitor the effect of warfarin...on the blood. The INR is a numeric value used to standardize PT results.

Employees at St Agness lab failed to verify the sensitivity of a chemical reagent used in the PT test, leading them to use the wrong INR to cauculate the result. The error...led some physicians to prescribe a stronger dose of warfarin..."

Sorry I couldn't find the articles to post here. I have hard copies if anyone wants them.

Regards,
Blanche

http://www.valvereplacement.com/forums/showthread.php?t=461

http://www.valvereplacement.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-415.html

http://www.valvereplacement.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-498.html
 
For Doctor Jeff and those folks who have asked for more information about the terrible problems at St. Agnes Medical Center in 2001, I have added links to three articles to my last post.

Why did I add the links to the previous post and not here.......Well, because I'm having a very confusing day, I am not computer saavy, and my brain seems to be turning into a hula hoop.

Blanche
 
Blanche said:
For Doctor Jeff and those folks who have asked for more information about the terrible problems at St. Agnes Medical Center in 2001, I have added links to three articles to my last post.

Why did I add the links to the previous post and not here.......Well, because I'm having a very confusing day, I am not computer saavy, and my brain seems to be turning into a hula hoop.

Blanche
Yeap, you'll have this from time to time!
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