Bone cement company accused of experimenting on humans
Reba Golden hurt her back after falling two floors while building an addition to her house in Honduras. But when she returned to Seattle for a routine spinal surgery, she suffered blood clots, severe bleeding and died in 2007 on the operating table.
Joan Bryant's back had bothered her since a 1990 car accident, so in 2009 she sought help from a Seattle spinal surgeon, but she bled out on the operating table and could not be revived.
Like at least three spinal-surgery patients before them, Golden and Bryant died after their doctor injected bone cement into their spine and some of the material leaked into their blood stream, causing clotting.
The patients were never told Norian bone cement wasn't approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Instead, Norian and parent company Synthes used surgeons in what one doctor called "human experimentation." Federal prosecutors say the aim was to skirt a long, costly regulatory process.
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http://bigstory.ap.org/article/8b4a0395715a4e60879f1167557f2a44/bone-cement-company-accused-experimenting-humans