Blood Thinner Can Paralyze, FDA Reports

The government said Monday that a new blood thinner could leave some surgical patients paralyzed.

The Food and Drug Administration has received more than 30 reports of patients who suffered bleeding inside the spinal column after taking a blood thinner called Lovenox, made by Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, and receiving surgical anesthesia by spinal injection.

Some patients suffered temporary neurological damage, such as leg weakness, difficulty walking or difficulty emptying their bladders. Those not diagnosed quickly enough were permanently paralyzed below the waist, said Dr. Lilia Talarico, FDA’s director of anticoagulants.

Normally, spinal injections stop bleeding quickly. The extra-thin blood of patients receiving the thinning agent cannot clot, and pools inside the spinal cord, the FDA said.

Pharmacia & Upjohn’s Fragmin; Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories’ Normiflo; and Organon Inc.’s Orgaran are also risky, the FDA said.