In a move to pick up patients who had been taking Bayer's recently recalled Baycol (cerivastatin), two rival firms are offering supplies of their cholesterol-lowering drugs for free.

Baycol was recalled a week ago amid reports that patients taking the drug had died of a condition that causes muscle-cell breakdown. At the time, the US Food and Drug Administration suggested that other statins--including Bristol-Myers Squibb's Pravachol (pravastatin), Novartis' Lescol (fluvastatin) and Merck & Co.'s Zocor (simvastatin)--should be considered as alternative treatments.

Seeing an opportunity to win some of Baycol's market share, Bristol-Myers is offering former users of the drug a free 30-day supply of Pravachol. On Monday, the company ran full-page advertisements in major US newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal and The Philadelphia Inquirer, featuring coupons for free Pravachol, a company spokeswoman told Reuters Health.

The firm also has updated its Pravachol Web site, which now includes a large headline reading ``Baycol Withdrawn from Market'' on its opening screen and suggests that patients talk to their doctors about a possible switch to Pravachol. The Web site also offers the 30-day coupon.

Not to be outdone, East Hanover, New Jersey-based Novartis has taken out full-page ads in national newspapers--including Wednesday's USA Today and New York Times--offering a free 60-day supply of Lescol or Lescol XL extended-release tablets to new users. Flagged ``Attention Baycol Users,'' the ads highlight Lescol XL's ``low occurrence of side effects,'' noting ''Fewer than 4% of patients stopped taking Lescol XL because of side effects in clinical trials.''

Patients using the coupons for Pravachol or Lescol must still obtain prescriptions from their doctors.