The legal settlement is designed to provide anyone who used Gammagard during this time period with the opportunity to receive a medical test to ascertain whether they have hepatitis C, and then the opportunity for financial support for medical treatment as necessary. Baxter agrees with the FDA's conclusion that switching to a new, more advanced antibody-screening test that was required by the FDA resulted in the presence of hepatitis in certain lots of Gammagard. The FDA inspected Baxter's manufacturing operations on several occasions after the company's voluntary market withdrawal of Gammagard and found no manufacturing errors or deficiencies. The safety and effectiveness of our products and therapies is Baxter's primary concern. The settlement makes an initial payment to all patients who received Gammagard between January of 1993 and February of 1994 and to allow them to get tested for Hepatitis C. Those who test Hepatitis C positive are then compensated and, if in the rare event that they suffer any severe complications from the disease in the future, they receive additional compensation to allow them to receive medical treatment for their condition.
Patient safety is our primary concern.
However, there are risks inherent in any medical therapy. Baxter and the entire industry are taking several steps to continuously ensure the safety of blood therapies. Baxter uses extensive donor screening and testing to ensure our donors are medically fit. This allows us to perform follow-up testing on the donor prior to using his or her plasma. We have also incorporated the best technology currently available to test the collected plasma to ensure the quality of the plasma.