Dialysis can be a life saver in patients with end-stage kidney disease.

But for some patients who had dialysis treatments containing GranuFlo or NaturaLyte, dialysis was a death sentence.

Unfortunately, what happened is that some doctors who prescribed dialysis to their patients gave doses of the dialysis medicines that were too high for many people to handle, leading to several cases of heart attacks and death. This was not the doctor’s fault; it happened because the manufacturer of one of the products that went into dialysis, Granuflo, did not use the proper warning labels.

Here’s what went wrong: as a result of the incorrect dosage, too much bicarbonate in the dialysis treatment leads to alkalosis in some dialysis patients. Alkalosis is a condition which affects the heart’s electrical activity, causing electrolyte imbalances that can trigger ventricular fibrillations or tachycardia. When this occurs, the heart is unable to pump blood correctly and the person suffers Sudden Cardiac Death.

There is strong evidence that Fresenius, the company that makes GranuFlo powder, knew about this critical problem for years and yet failed to warn the clinics or patients or doctors. If you have heard of someone or know someone who died while on dialysis, or within 24 to 48 hours of dialysis treatment, this may be the reason for their untimely death.