Deadly IV fluid still being used despite known risks
Medical experts from around the world have joined together to warn about a commonly-used hospital IV fluid that can be deadly.
It’s called “hydroxyethyl starch,” or HES — and it’s used to increase “fluid volume” in patients, sometimes during surgery.
Even decades ago, when the first HES product came on the market, some doctors were very concerned, and they published several studies that cautioned about using it. Now, over 40 years later, such warnings have reached a fever pitch.
And as the FDA continues to ignore this danger, patients will continue to die.
Too risky to use for any reason
HES fluids can be used in all kinds of medical situations, from major surgery… to trauma from loss of blood… to acute dehydration (including that associated with extreme heat stroke).
But they’re not the only game in town — in fact, there are two main kinds of IV fluids doctors and hospitals administer, crystalloid and colloid.
Crystalloid ones contain water, salt, and sometimes glucose. Colloid types, like HES, are made up of those ingredients — plus a protein or starch.
And the type of starch that HES fluids typically use is corn starch — that’s right, the same corn starch you might use to thicken a soup.
But that starch doesn’t always disappear after a patient is infused with a HES solution. A derivative of the corn starch used in the fluids can end up being deposited in different body tissues and organs, including the skin, kidneys, liver, bone marrow, lymph nodes, spleen, lungs, and pancreas — sometimes for years.
Now, if you think having corn starch sitting in your vital organs isn’t a very good idea, you’re absolutely right. It’s been found to cause kidney failure, liver disease, and edema, to say nothing of skin ailments like severe itching.
Aside from those little problems, HES can cause kidney failure, bleeding, and death. And as if that’s not enough, even more “pivotal” evidence came to light close to 10 years ago that proves that HES fluids are just too risky to use — with the biggest danger being for those who are critically ill, especially with sepsis.
Most recently, medical experts such as Dr. Sammy Almashat, co-author of a petition filed earlier this year by Public Citizen asking the FDA to immediately ban all HES products, describes the evidence of the dangers of HES solutions as “overwhelming.”
Could you imagine if experts in the field of emergency medicine spoke out with such concern over the sale of a dietary supplement? Why, government agents would be storming stores to strip the shelves clean of the product involved!
But where FDA-approved drugs are concerned, it seems we’re living in another galaxy.
Dr. Charles Natanson, the head of the Critical Care Medicine Department of the National Institutes of Health, says that “HES fulfills no unmet medical need” because there are “excellent alternatives available” that don’t come along with its risks.
That alternative is the other type of IV fluids, crystalloid, a.k.a. plain old saline solution.
The reasons why any doctor would still choose HES over saline aren’t very clear, either — especially since there’s no shortage of published information that tries to clear up the “crystalloid-vs-colloid debate” for them.
So, the question now seems to be how to protect ourselves and our loved ones from this risk.
If you’re scheduling elective surgery, it’s certainly a good idea to bring this up with your doctor ahead of time. Also, if you should end up in the ER for any reason, and they want to give you IV fluids, you or one of your family members need to ask what they’ll be using.
HES solutions in the U.S. go by the brand names of Hespan, Hextend, and Voluven — but there are also some generic versions of Hespan called hetastarch.
Probably the easiest thing for you to remember, though, is: NEVER say yes to HES.
“Dangerous IV solutions must be banned immediately, Public Citizen tells FDA” Public Citizen, citizen.org
