Baycol, made by Bayer was approved by the FDA in the United States in 1997. Baycol is a in the drug family statin, which form a class of pharmaceuticals to lower cholesterol levels in people at risk for heart disease because of hypercholesterolemia, or high cholesterol. Statins are the most potent cholesterol-lowering agents available and they are highly effective because they lower bad LDL-cholesterol by between 30% and 50%. The statins family also includes several well known drugs including Lipitor, Crestor and Vitorin and they have been credited with preventing heart disease in countless patients.
Baycol was ultimately pulled from the market in 2001 because of high number of incidences linking it to a condition called Rhabdomyolysis which indicated a serious Baycol side effect. Rhabdomyolysis is a condition that causes a break down of muscle fibers. Myoglobin is pigment that contains iron and it is found in the skeletal muscle and it goes into the bloodstream as the muscle deteriorates. As the kidneys try to clean the blood, they take in the Myoglobin cells which can result in kidney failure. Rhabdomyolysis causes muscle pain and tenderness as they deteriorate, weakness throughout the body, fatigue and malaise, fever, dark urine – indicating problems with the kidneys, nausea and vomiting. Rhabdomyolysis is a potentially life threatening condition. It can be brought about by a number of conditions including severe exertion such as marathon running or calisthenics, necrosis of the muscles through arterial occlusion or other conditions, seizures drug use including both illegal narcotics and amphetamines or statins, trauma, heatstroke, Alcoholism and DT’s and low phosphate levels.
The link between statins, like Baycol and Rhabdomyolysis has long been known, but Baycol’s side effect incidence level was far higher than that of other drugs on the market, which is why it was ultimately withdrawn. The long term effects of kidney failure, including dialysis, kidney transplant and potential death are well known and in fact, Baycol was linked to at least 31 deaths in patients. Thus Baycol is now under scrutiny by hundreds of people potentially affected by this defective drug.
In March of 2006, Bayer notified the SEC that they had received subpoenas in two separate cases, one of them relating to Baycol. There are state specific and federal Baycol lawsuit actions underway against Bayer of this drug defect. Bayer also disclosed in its SEC filings that its insurance coverage for the drug defects had been depleted and that it could be subject to damages and compensation for plaintiffs who had filed an additional 5,900 pending lawsuits. As of 2005, Bayer had already paid out some $1.138 billion to settle over 3000 personal injury Baycol lawsuit cases about the cholesterol.
If you or someone you know took Baycol and developed any bad Baycol side effects, including Rhabdomyolysis, kidney disease or kidney failure you should contact a Baycol lawyer, personal injury attorney or defective drug attorney as soon as possible. There are statutes of limitations on some of these cases and if you have been injured by a Baycol side effect or any drug defect, you have a right to compensation and redress.