Use of hydroxyethyl starch drips suspended by health chiefs Hospital bosses across the country have been ordered to stop using a fluid that is given to burn and trauma victims and patients being operated on after it was linked to hundreds of unnecessary deaths. A recent study concluded that administering hydroxyethyl starch through an intravenous (IV) drip increases a patient's risk of dying. The authors estimated that this type of drip could be causing around 250 unnecessary deaths in the UK every year. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) suspended the use of such starch drips because "their benefits no longer outweigh the risk." The Scottish Government's Chief Pharmaceutical Officer Bill Scott wrote to all medical directors in NHS Boards, general practitioners and directors of pharmacy in Scotland on June 27 confirming that the drug should be withdrawn. The drips are used for treatment and prevention of low blood volume, a steep drop in blood pressure, as well as for maintenance of circulation during surgical procedures. But the MHRA has said they should no longer be used. Dr Sarah Branch, deputy director of the MHRA's vigilance and risk management of medicines division, said: "The use of these types of drips has fallen in the last year because of published evidence which shows that there is an increased risk associated with the use of hydroxyethyl starch products compared with simple salt solutions (crystalloids). Having considered the available evidence, and taken advice from the Commission on Human Medicines, we have decided to suspend their use in the UK. An MHRA spokesman said officials are writing to hospital bosses to inform them of the decision and plans for the recall of the product.