$625K Verdict On Behalf Of Man Who Died From Contaminated Drug
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The estate of a southwest suburban man has been given a large jury award, more than three years after he died from contaminated blood-thinning drugs.
As WBBM Newsradio 780's Bernie Tafoya reports, a Cook County jury awarded $625,000 to the state of Steven Johansen.
In December 2007, the Oak Forest man had been given the blood thinner heparin, which contained fake ingredients sourced to China.
Johansen was later given a higher dosage and died.
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The federal government determined in 2008 that the heparin was contaminated with a nutritional supplement that mimics the real drug.
Afterward, hundreds of lawsuits were filed against the maker of the drug, Deerfield, Ill.-based Baxter International Inc. and its supplier, Wisconsin-based Scientific Protein Laboratories.
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