Baxter CEO: Heparin contamination was deliberate

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The contamination of Baxter International Inc's blood-thinner heparin appears to have been deliberate, the company's chief executive said in testimony prepared for a congressional hearing on Tuesday.

"We're alarmed that one of our products was used, in what appears to have been a deliberate scheme, to adulterate a life-saving medication, and that people have suffered as a result," Baxter Chief Executive Robert Parkinson said.

"We deeply regret that this has happened, and I feel a strong sense of personal responsibility for these circumstances," he said.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; editing by John Wallace)