Article - May 20, 2008 - KETK

Lufkin Dialysis probe takes a new twist

By Tamara Jolee

LUFKIN - Zavilla resident Walter Metcalf is blaming Heparin - for the death of his wife - Thelma.

The very drug that has recently made worldwide news.

"Her primary doctor said that she didn't know why (Thelma) went down so fast," said her husband of 48 years.

Before being treated, Walter said Thelma could drive to get around town.

But just six weeks after receiving treatment at the DaVita Dialysis Center of Lufkin - she quickly detoriated.

In fact, he said after her first treatment at DaVita, she passed out and he was the one that had to alert nurses that she was sick.

In March of 2008 - the FDA made major nationwide recalls of certain types of Heparin - imported from China.

And Metcalf wants to know - did the news ever get to the DaVita Lufkin Dialysis Center that the medicine may have been tainted?

"They had some contaminated Heparin that was still out on the market," he said. "They quit shipping it out but they didn't recall all that had been shipped out."

Or did a person at the DaVita Center knowingly committ a crime -- like the company claims?

"We believe that the unusual amount of deaths, were related to a single individual committing a crime," said Devita Nephrologist Dr. David Van Wyck, from the national office.

A person they say - Davita already fired.

When his wife started going to dialysis treatment, Metcalf says people started to wonder why so many patients were getting sick after leaving Davita.

"The doctors at the hospital said this is happening everyday over there at DaVita," said Metcalf. "The doctors felt something had to be done about it. They've got another dialysis center here (in Lufkin) and it wasn't happening there. Why was it happening at Davita?"

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