Trasylol, manufactured by Bayer Pharmaceuticals, has been used for more than twenty years to help reduce bleeding during surgery.
The drug came under fire in 2006, after two studies were published by the New England Journal of Medicine which showed it raises the risk of kidney damage and death.
In September 2006, the FDA put together a “special investigation” of the drug. A week _after_ the special review, Bayer admitted it had already completed a study showing a clear link between Trasylol and heart failure and death.
Bayer officials admitted that withholding the information was a “serious error of judgment.”
Trasylol was permanently recalled in May 2008.
Estimates are that over 1,000 people died each month from the use of Trasylol.
