Heparin is standard treatment given to thousands of hospitalized patients, and some people use the injections at home.

It is often called a blood-thinner, but it really doesn't thin blood, 6News' Stacia Matthews reported. It is an anticoagulant.

Heparin helps the body decrease its clotting ability, preventing harmful blood clots from forming in blood vessels.

Heparin has many uses for vessel, heart and lung conditions. Surgeons use it during bypass and open-heart surgery. It is also given to patients who are on dialysis.

For babies, Heparin is used to help eliminate clots in underdeveloped lungs, giving the lungs a chance to transfer oxygen into the bloodstream. Too much Heparin causes internal bleeding.

"There are various areas off the body sensitive to bleeding, the adrenal gland, the brain, the skin. But, in a child, you're not aware of this as quickly as you might be in an adult," said former Marion County coroner Dr. John Pless.