Bone cement company accused of experimenting on humans
[...] 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 Golden lawsuit, filed by her daughter Cynthia Wilson, also accuses Chapman, Synthes President Hansjorg Wyss and the university of running a criminal enterprise under Washington's Criminal Profiteering Act.
Synthes and Norian, along with four top executives, were indicted in 2009 on charges of conducting unauthorized clinical trials despite warnings that the bone cement caused deadly blood clots.
A Synthes employee in its regulatory division warned company officials the FDA had said it couldn't use Norian bone cement in spinal surgeries without approval.
A Synthes medical consultant warned company officials in 2002 that unauthorized clinical trials amounted to "human experimentation."
On June 16, 2009, Norian and Synthes, along with four company officials, were indicted on federal charges in Pennsylvania for conducting illegal clinical trials.