About 6,000 Baycol Lawsuits Remain In U.S.; Bayer Says Only 50 of Those Cases to be Settled
At Bayer AG's annual general meeting in late April 2005, the company said that as of April 25 it had paid $1.133 billion to settle 2,995 Baycol claims worldwide. These numbers reveal that, on average, Bayer has paid just over $378,000 per claimant. Previously, in March 2005, Bayer said it had settled 2,972 Baycol cases worldwide, for a total payment of $1.126 billion.
During the several years period after the former cholesterol-lowering drug Baycol was recalled in August 2001, Bayer and its attorneys have moved methodically to settle certain cases while refusing to settle many others. Basically, Bayer has settled cases of diagnosed rhabdomyolysis (a serious muscle-toxicity condition) but has consistently resisted paying any settlements to those claimants who allegedly suffered lesser Baycol side effects, such as myopathy and myalgias.
At the April 2005 annual general meeting, Bayer stated that while there remains about 6,000 lawsuits pending in the U.S. courts, its attorneys regard only about 50 of those cases as involving serious side effects and, therefore, compensable.
In addition, Bayer said there could be further settlements of Baycol cases outside of the U.S. Baycol was known as Lipobay in Europe.
(Posted by: Tom Lamb)