Baycol

Cerivastatin is a synthetic member of the class of statins, marketed in the 1990s with the brand name of Baycol by Bayer Pharmaceutical Division (Bayer A.G.). Baycol was a cholesterol-lowering drug, voluntarily withdrawn from the U.S. market on August 8, 2001, when the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced Bayer's decision.

Prescribed to reduce cholesterol and the risk of heart disease, Baycol was reported as the cause of severe adverse muscle reaction and fatal rhabdomyolysis as result of cerivastatin, a lipid-lowering product, the active ingredient of the drug. Bayer immediately issued treatment alternatives to be discussed on an individual basis between patients and health care providers.

Such treatments include other drugs in the same statins class, still available in the United States, including fluvastatin (Lescol), lovastatin (Mevacor), simvastatin (Zocor), pravastatin (Pravachol), and atorvastatin (Lipitor), approved for reducing cholesterol, without actually being statin drugs, but still associated with very rare reports of rhabdomyolysis.

As of May 2003, Bayer pharmaceutical paid $1.133 billion in lawsuits to settle 2,995 Baycol cases worldwide, after the recall in 2001 that revealed about 40 cases of death, and deterioration in the muscle tissue (rhabdomyolysis). It was estimated that Bayer paid on average On $381,224 to each claimant, and the number of victims today has increased.

In June 2003, there were only 9,400 Baycol lawsuits pending. Rhabdomyolysis is a very rare side effect of statin drugs, causing muscle cells to break down, allowing their contents to enter into the bloodstream. In very few cases, rhabdomyolysis may result in mild to severe organ damage, including fatal kidney damage.

People who were injured by the intake of Baycol is continuously encouraged to file a class action lawsuit, so the numbers keep going up. Baycol was initially approved in 1997 by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a member of a class of cholesterol lowering drugs known as statins, that lowers cholesterol levels by blocking a enzyme in the body, involved in the synthesis of cholesterol.

Victims of Baycol developed symptoms of rhabdomyolysis, such as fever, tenderness, weakness, malaise, dark urine, nausea, vomiting, and muscle pain, localized or generalized throughout the body, but most frequently in the calves and lower back. Because rhabdomyolysis is a rare condition, some victims reported no symptoms of muscle injury but organ damage.

It is estimated that in the United States alone about 700,000 people had used Baycol as of the withdrawal date of the drug in 2001. Most of the deaths associated to this drugs were caused due to the intake of high dosages of this medication, and the combination with another cholesterol-lowering drug called gemfibrozil, as well as in elderly patients.

Even when some patients suffered from less serious side effects, such as rash, dizziness, and headache, attorneys advise people to find a lawyer as soon as possible to file a class action lawsuit so Bayer can be sued due to its irresponsibility by marketing a drug, just as in response to its competitor Pfizer's Lipitor.

Keep in mind that other side effect of Baycol included stomach upset, heartburn, abdominal discomfort with gas, bloating, nausea, constipation, diarrhea, and pain.