Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1996. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Chicago Tribune (CT) - FRIDAY, April 5, 1996 Edition: NORTH SPORTS FINAL Section: BUSINESS Page: 1 Word Count: 402
Barbara Sullivan, Tribune Staff Writer.
The test had not been used in the United States, a spokesman for the pharmaceutical giant said Thursday.
Named IMx HIV-1/HIV-2 3d Generation plus, the test came on the market last year and has been widely distributed in European, Latin American and Asian countries, according to the North Chicago-based company.
It is used for two purposes: to determine the safety of blood donations, and to evaluate if a person has HIV, the AIDS virus. When asked if the inaccurate information provided by the test could have resulted in HIV-infected blood being used in transfusions, Abbott spokesman Matt Kuhn said, "That is correct."
The Danish health minister has said that all blood stocks will be destroyed if necessary, according to a Reuters report.
Abbott said the company should not be affected financially by withdrawing the test, which is just one of the tests it markets.
Abbott stock gained 25 cents a share to close at $42 on the New York Stock Exchange.
The inaccurate test results were discovered accidentally last fall in Sweden, when a blood sample had to be sent to a more sophisticated testing center because of a hospital workers' strike, according to a Swedish virologist quoted by Reuters.
"The test can mistakenly show negative when there are large concentrations of HIV antibodies in the blood," the head of the Swedish Infectious Diseases Prevention Unit told reporters. Swedish authorities notified Abbott, which confirmed it had received four false results from a total of 2.5 million tests.
Distribution was stopped March 25.
Pharmaceutical companies including Abbott have moved aggressively into treatments for AIDS and to ensure a safe blood supply. But health-care companies have also been hurt by products that have resulted in patients getting AIDS from infected blood.
Just last month, Deerfield-based Baxter International Inc. agreed to pay an estimated $53 million to settle lawsuits filed in 1989 by 400 Japanese hemophiliacs who contracted the virus from contaminated blood products.
Baxter had already settled a $12 million similar suit in Germany and a $3 million suit in Canada and still faces 350 suits and 860 claims filed against the company in the United States, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Japan and the Netherlands.
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