NATION IN BRIEF : NEBRASKA : Tainted Drug Infects Eight Heart Patients

Eight people developed infections from a contaminated drug used in open-heart surgery, and two of them died, Bryan Memorial Hospital spokesmen in Lincoln, Neb., said. Susan Frye, a Bryan vice president, said the hospital traced the infection to a solution of glutamate aspartate. The solution is used to paralyze the heart during open-heart surgery. She said the hospital switched to a commercially premixed solution and patients who undergo surgery now are not at risk of infection. Frye said the source of the infection was traced to preparation of the solution.