A man whose father died shortly after starting to take a popular cholesterol-lowering drug has filed a lawsuit against the drug's maker, Bayer Corp.

Steven Sparks' 87-year-old father died in January, less than two months after he began taking the drug Baycol, which has been linked to 52 deaths worldwide.

The lawsuit was filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City. Attorneys are seeking class-action status.

"At this point, we're looking for a very expansive class, including anybody who's been on the drug," said William Federman, whose Oklahoma City law firm is handling the case. "We believe there are other Oklahoma residents who were prescribed the drug, which was touted by the company as being a wonderful, cutting-edge drug."

Bayer voluntarily withdrew Baycol from the market Aug. 8.

The lawsuit, which covers anyone who used Baycol during the two years before its recall, charges Bayer with alleged product liability and negligence. The lawsuit requests actual and punitive damages in an amount to be determined.

Baycol is one of a popular family of drugs called statins that have been linked to rare reports of a side effect called rhabdomyolysis, a life-threatening condition in which muscle cells are destroyed and released into the bloodstream. Patients taking Baycol had a higher number of fatalities than competing drugs, the FDA has said.