Dr. Lipman said that when the team examined her blood samples, the pieces started to fall into place, and they realized she seemed to have the same problem that they knew was occurring in Britain and Europe after patients took the AstraZeneca vaccine. had received. mostly in young women. They switched from heparin to a different blood thinner and started following the guidelines of doctors in the UK who had treated AstraZeneca recipients with a similar condition.
Hoping for more information about the condition and a possible connection to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, Dr. Lipman an emergency number with the Food and Drug Administration. It was a weekend and he said the person answering told him that no one was available to help and that the line should remain open for emergencies.
“I thought this was an emergency,” said Dr. Lipman. “She hung up.”
He called back to ask how to reach Janssen, who makes the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. That information was not available, and he said the person who replied had also told him that the FDA could not advise on patient care.
An FDA spokeswoman, Stephanie Caccomo, said in an email, “We will investigate this further to ensure that doctors who call the FDA for help get the help they seek.”
Dr. Lipman said the pharmacist at his hospital filed a report online with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in early April, but the agency had only contacted him this week to inquire about the matter. The agency declined to comment on whether it had communicated with Dr. Lipman, said a spokeswoman, Kristen Nordlund, by email.
At a Wednesday meeting of a CDC advisory panel, Johnson & Johnson and Dr. Tom Shimabukuro, a security expert at the agency, provides data on the young woman in Nevada. After the meeting, Nevada officials issued a statement saying the meeting was the first time they heard of a case in their state – they had previously told the public no cases had been reported – and they asked “ federal partners. ” why the state was not notified.
At the hospital in Nevada, an interventional radiologist inserted a tube through the blood vessels to the brain of the young woman and used a device to suck out the blood clots. Later, more clots formed and he rerun the procedure.