The Economist reported that in 2010, Fresenius Medical Care “sold 55% of new dialysis machines.”  An international healthcare giant, Fresenius Medical Care also designs and manufactures dialysates – chemicals used to clean the blood of patients whose kidneys no longer function and therefore must undergo dialysis – such as GranuFlo.

Tragically, in 2010, 941

The condition metabolic alkalosis occurs when the blood is excessively alkaline (or basic, as opposed to acidic).  This condition has a variety of known causes, including fever,[1] “being at a high altitude,”[2] “lack of oxygen”[3] and by excess bicarbonate in the blood.[4]  In the case of GranuFlo, metabolic alkalosis

On May 29th, 2012 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a Class 1 recall of Fresenius Medical Care’s GranuFlo and Naturalyte, products used to clean and filter the blood in patients undergoing hemodialysis for chronic kidney failure.  As reason for the recall, the FDA writes:

“Inappropriate prescription of these products can lead

On June 14th, 2012, the New York Times published an article describing failure by the healthcare giant Fresenius Medical Care to warn doctors and patients of the dangers of two of its dialysis products: GranuFlo and Naturalyte.

GranuFlo and Naturalyte are mixes of chemicals used in hemodialysis procedures to fill the role of