Baycol
Lawsuit News
The Baycol recall of August 2001 affected the over 6
million people worldwide that were taking the cholesterol-lowering
drug. Bayer, Baycol’s manufacturer was criticized
for allowing patients to continue using the cholesterol
drug for such an extended amount of time despite the
increased risk of fatality due to the condition rhabdomyolysis,
a breakdown of muscle tissue causing renal failure and
liver damage. The company has claimed the Baycol recall
was issued because doctors were not using the drug as
directed by Baycol labeling.
Although
Baycol belonged to the most widely prescribed drug class
called statins, which was linked to instances of rhabdomyolysis,
Baycol was considered a significantly greater risk of
death occurring because of rhabdomyolysis. Bayer has
since been left defending itself since the 2001 Baycol
recall but once again can be found making Baycol lawsuit
news. At the time of the Baycol recall, Baycol was linked
to over 50 Baycol deaths worldwide, however since then
the number has risen to over 100 Baycol deaths, in addition
to 1,600 injuries worldwide. For more information on
the Baycol lawsuit news, please contact
us to confer with a Baycol lawyer.
Internal
Bayer Baycol Documents Revealed at First
Baycol Lawsuit Trial
In the first of the 7,800 Baycol lawsuits waiting
to go to trial, the highly publicized and scrutinized
Baycol trial taking place in Texas has exposed evidence
of internal company documents showing top Bayer
executives became increasingly more alarmed at the
occurrence of the deadly Baycol side effect rhabdomyolysis
that was found to occur at a rate much higher than
with other statin drugs. If you have taken Baycol
and are suffering or have suffered Baycol side effects
including rhabdomyolysis, please contact us to confer
with a Baycol lawyer. “We
need to do everything possible to maximize sales
results since Baycol must carry the company for
the short and long haul.”
-May 1998 email from Bayer executive
“The
steadily increasing numbers of spontaneous reports
of rhabdomyolysis associated with Baycol...has
overwhelmed the available safety resources.”
-December 1999 report
“Some
are scared to uncover such data (bad data) because
of launch of 0.8 mg. If FDA asks for bad news,
we have to give, but if we don’t have it,
then we can’t give it to them.”
-January 2000 meeting agenda, unidentified
Bayer executive wrote
“I
am concerned that there is widespread knowledge
in the field with both Bayer and SB representatives
that there have been some death related to Baycol.”
-February 2000 email from Bayer executive
“There
has been a substantial increase in calls from
our sales representatives and opinion leaders
requesting that scientific affairs liaisons talk
to physicians who had cases of rhabdomyolysis.”
-June 2000, Bayer executive
“There
will be much more tremendous trouble in the future.”
-Bayer marketing partner in Japan urging the
company halt clinical trials of higher doses of
Baycol viewed to help increase sales, in July
2000, Bayer received approval to sell a higher
dose of Baycol
“So
much for keeping this quiet.”
-February 2000, email from Patricia Stenger,
manager in Bayer’s scientific affairs unit
to other executives
Allegedly
top Bayer executives told sales staff to “redouble
our efforts, we’re going to make this a
billion-dollar drug.”
-March 2000
Stenger
wrote a June 2000 email with an attached document
saying that doctors reporting Baycol side effects
were hearing of similar cases with other patients
and stated they “appear to be more angry
and concerned and feel that Bayer is hiding information.”
|
-March
5, 2003
Documents that have been presented in court at Baycol
trials showing that Baycol executives became increasingly
more alarmed about the instances of Baycol side effect
rhabdomyolysis that was occurring at a much higher rate
than competing statins. Bayer has maintained the company
acted responsibly with Baycol and had to issue the Baycol
recall because doctors were improperly prescribing the
cholesterol drug.
-March
3, 2003
A German lawyer is hoping to settle about 100 Baycol
cases out of court in Germany. Of the 2,000 German Baycol
patients the lawyer is representing, he believes that
5% of the instances involve serious Baycol side effects
damage.
-March
3, 2003
Bayer has taken out full page ads defending Baycol on
February 28, 2003 entitled “Facts not Mood-stirring”
in order to reassure worried Bayer investors. Bayer
stated it was impossible to forecast the outcome of
future Baycol lawsuits despite predictions made by attorneys
and analysts. The company has already paid a total of
$125 million to settle 450 Baycol lawsuits but faces
thousands more.
-March
2, 2003
Bayer is trying to calm the speculation talk of the
impact Baycol lawsuits will have on the company following
the statements a lawyer made saying Bayer faced damages
of up to $50 billion. Bayer released a statement claiming
the Baycol lawsuit predictions have been wildly overestimated
and were press efforts to affect Bayer stock and help
legal battles. Analysts have estimated Bayer could suffer
damages of over $5 billion to almost $10 billion if
Baycol negligence is proved.
-February
28, 2003
GlaxoSmithKline is worried as its shares have continued
to slip for the fifth day in a row. Glaxo and Bayer
jointly marketed Baycol and Glaxo has been named in
some Baycol recall lawsuits for the deaths and serious
injuries, including rhabdomyolysis that occurred while
the cholesterol drug was on the market. Most Baycol
lawsuits have only named Bayer because it was predominantly
responsible for the marketing and selling of Baycol.
Glaxo is still not sure what type of liability the company
holds in the future Baycol lawsuits.
-February
28, 2003
The high profile Baycol lawsuit in Texas has drawn in
dozens of spectators. The Baycol trial is proving to
continue being controversial. Already, allegations of
attempted jury tampering have been made. In addition,
the county district attorney is looking into matters
in response to the trial judges request after Bayer
had sent thousands of letters to city residents urging
them to keep an open mind about the company just a day
before jury selections had begun. The company’s
response to the letters was that they were a mistake,
however the trial judge found the letters to be “outlandish”.
-February
27, 2003
Lawyer for a plaintiff in Germany are seeking $500 million
in punitive damages for recalled cholesterol drug Baycol,
marketed as Libobay outside of the U.S. The Baycol lawsuit
is in addition to the already present Baycol case occurring
in Texas with demands for a $100 million payout.
-February
27, 2003
Investors are quickly dropping Bayer’s stock fearful
that the company will be forced to pay large quantities
of money to settle even more Baycol lawsuits. The investors
have been unable to determine what type of loss Bayer
will suffer when all the Baycol lawsuits have come to
a close. The 7,800 Baycol lawsuits in the U.S. that
Bayer faces, in addition to any claims that are filed
from 700,000 Baycol patients that live outside of the
U.S., Bayer may end up making payment of more than $5
billion. Bayer officials are still denying its executives
knew of the deadly and serious Baycol side effects well
before adequately responding.
-February
25, 2003
Bayer announced the company has paid a total of $125
million to settle 450 Baycol cases out of court. The
company said that it is in active discussions with plaintiff
lawyer about settling 500 more Baycol cases. Bayer’s
worry about its Baycol liabilities do not seem to be
lessening, especially following the publication of company
documents that indicate Bayer executives knew long before
the Baycol recall that the drug had deadly risks.
-February
24, 2003
Bayer shares fell almost 10% after the New York Times
reported a senior company executive was aware of the
deadly risks associated to Baycol long before a Baycol
recall was issued. Of the more than 7,800 Baycol lawsuits
filed against Bayer, around 450 of them have already
been settled out of court for amounts ranging between
$200,000 and $1.2 million. The maximum estimated cost
the Baycol recall problems for Bayer could result in
is around $1.6 billion. Court papers show that in 1997
the President of Bayer’s North American pharmaceutical
operations had received a letter from executive vice
president of pharmaceuticals at SmithKline Beecham that
he had “serious concerns” about using Baycol
with some other medicines the day after Baycol received
FDA approval.
-February
22, 2003
Internal Bayer emails and depositions indicate that
Bayer was promoting Baycol with the knowledge that it
can cause rhabdomyolysis-induced deaths. A February
2000 Bayer email included an executive noting that the
word was leaking about deaths related to Baycol and
issuing an official statement before the situation worsened.
When the vice president for scientific affairs at Bayer
was asked in a deposition if the company had delayed
any knowledge of the link between Baycol and life-threatening
instances of rhabdomyolysis, the employee responded
that no knowledge was known. Other internal Bayer documents
showed the officials were more concerned with Baycol
becoming financially successful enough to fuel company
operations and compete with other pharmaceutical companies.
-February
21, 2003
A Baycol lawsuit opened, which marked the first lawsuit
of its kind in the U.S. Alleging that Bayer officials
were aware of the deadly side effects, the Baycol lawsuit
is the first of many awaiting trial. The plaintiff suffered
rhabdomyolysis after taking samples of Baycol for less
than a month.
-January
16, 2003
Bayer announced the number of Baycol lawsuits the company
is facing has increased to 7,400, up from 5,700 in November
2002.
 |
