RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- A newspaper report says months passed between federal regulators first receiving complaints about tainted syringes produced at a North Carolina plant and action to pull them from the market.
The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Wednesday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had complaints as early as 2005 about contamination in syringes filled with blood thinner by AM2PAT Inc. at its plant in Angier.
The FDA pulled the product from the market in December 2007.
Authorities say the syringes sickened hundreds of people and are linked to five deaths.
Two company officials pleaded guilty to charges and officials are searching for the company's president.