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What has been done so far with regard to Baycol litigation?
Baycol litigation against the Bayer Pharmaceutical Division began in
earnest in March 2002, when four people filed lawsuits against the
company having allegedly suffered serious Baycol injuries as a result of
their use of the cholesterol drug. The Baycol litigation, filed in
Portland, Oregon, amounted to a total of $15 million. The basis for
these Baycol injury claims was that the Bayer Pharmaceutical Division
had failed to correctly raise awareness about the possible effects of
Baycol, and had not warned either the government or the FDA to a
sufficient extent. Of the four lawsuits, three were filed in Multnomah
County Circuit Court, while the fourth piece of Baycol litigation was
filed in U.S. District Court for Oregon. This is the seminal case of
Baycol litigation since the drug's recall, although there are several
others around the country. Defendant corporations are Bayer A.G., Bayer
Corporation, GlaxoSmithKline plc, and SmithKline Beecham Corporation.
The United States District Court for Minnesota, based in Minneapolis,
approved a Case Management Order to set an early deadline for moving
this Baycol injury case to trial. This court presides over the National
Baycol Products Liability Litigation, and so its order affects the
entire nation with regard to Baycol litigation. The effects of the order
included a schedule for production of relevant documentation by the
prosecution and 250,000 such documents have already been produced. There
are various events along the timeline, but the projected date for the
official trial is some time in early 2003. An official website for the
case has been established by the court, noting important updates to the
trial. It can be found at
http://www.mnd.uscourts.gov.
Are Baycol injury cases being addressed internationally?
There is no doubt that the main focus of Baycol injury cases has been in
the United States, where over 700,000 people regularly consumed the
drug. However, the drug was also sold in other markets, as would be
expected from a German company boasting one of the largest global market
shares. The drug was withdrawn from sale concurrently, apart from Japan
where it remained on shelves for two weeks longer than other markets. No
other nation has yet incited Baycol litigation proceedings against the
Bayer Pharmaceutical Division concerning Baycol injuries, but the lead
taken by the United States is almost certain to influence similar Baycol
litigation activity around the world.
$568 million of Baycol was sold during the year it was on sale. Although
this accounted for only 3.5 percent of the total statin market, it still
meant that 700,000 people in the U.S. used the drug, and numerous
thousands of others around the world.
Do I have a Baycol injury case?
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