Cleveland Heights, OHBecause Trasylol was approved so long ago, there are many people whose loved ones were affected by the drug but do not realize it. Barbara S. says her husband, Carson, had open heart surgery in 1998, but she is only now realizing that his serious health problems may have been caused by Trasylol.
Barbara says that reading other people's stories alerted her to what may have happened to her husband. "When I read those stories, it was exactly like my husband," Barbara says. "Everything that happened to them happened to him. It was like reliving what he went through.
"He had open heart surgery in December 1998. It was a valve replacement and valve repair. The doctor came out of the operating room and told me my husband went into kidney failure on the operating table and he was in a coma. I asked the doctor what happened, but the doctor said he didn't know. My husband stayed in a coma for around three weeks. A year later, the head of the ICU told me that when my husband was in the coma, he did not know if my husband would live or die."
Following that surgery, Carson went on dialysis. The next year he had to have another open heart surgery to replace the valves that had previously been repaired.
"After that surgery, he had dementia," Barbara says. "He didn't know who I was. He also had stomach problems and had to have part of his intestines removed."
Carson's health problems continued for the next two years, until he passed away. He was only 46 years old when he died in March 2001. The official cause of death was sepsis. Barbara says she has not confirmed that Carson received Trasylol during his open heart surgery, but feels strongly that what he went through is similar to what other Trasylol patients endured.
"He had weight loss and weakness—he was never the same after that first surgery," Barbara says. "To see such a driven man go down the way he did is devastating. Before that first surgery he was strong. I couldn't see how a vibrant man could just go down like that."
Many people were given Trasylol during open heart surgery in the years that the drug was available for use. Sadly, countless people affected by the drug may never know that Trasylol was the cause of their health problems. Furthermore, there are likely many more people like Barbara, who did not fully understand the cause of their loved one's death and may not realize that Trasylol could have been the culprit.
If you or a loved one had open heart surgery and suffered serious side effects, including kidney failure, after that surgery, it is possible that Trasylol was used. You may be eligible to join a lawsuit against Bayer, maker of Trasylol. Contact a lawyer to discuss your legal options.