Heparin recall spreads in Europe

NEW YORK, March 26 (UPI) -- France, Italy and Denmark are recalling heparin after an Italian firm purchased contaminated ingredients from China, EU drug regulators said.

The drug has already been recalled in Germany and the United States.

The Wall Street Journal reported China's Shenzhen Hepalink Pharmaceutical Co., which supplies ingredients to U.S.-based APP Pharmaceuticals also supplied Italian company Opocrin. The Italian company said Tuesday it bought some ingredients from Shenzhen that turned out to be contaminated, the newspaper said.

APP said the Italian heparin ingredients were obtained through a different pig slaughterhouse and that APP heparin produced in the United States has consistently tested contaminant-free.