August 15, 2001

An Independence woman is suing Bayer Corp., claiming that she became ill after taking one of the company's prescription drugs.

In the class-action petition filed Thursday in Jackson CountyCircuit Court, Thelma Hurt alleged that she suffered serious side effects after taking the cholesterol-lowering drug Baycol.

Hurt started taking Baycol in February. According to the lawsuit, three weeks later she fell ill and spent 10 days in the hospital, where she was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis and other ailments.

Last Wednesday, Bayer Corp. voluntarily took Baycol off the market after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration linked the drug to 31 U.S. deaths due to severe rhabdomyolysis. In 12 of the cases patients also were using a medication called gemfibrozil, which is sold under the brand name Lopid.

Rhabdomyolysis is a condition that deteriorates muscle cells, causing their contents to escape into the bloodstream. People suffering from rhabdomyolysis experience muscle pain, usually in the calves and lower back; weakness; tenderness; malaise; fever; dark urine; nausea; and vomiting.

In some cases, severe muscle injury leads to renal failure and other organ failure, which can be fatal.

Attorneys for Hurt say that Bayer was negligent in making and selling Baycol and failed to adequately warn consumers of the potential serious side effects.

"Our client was never warned," said attorney James M. Ziegler of Independence. "And as it turns out, the effects of this drug may affect her for the rest of her life."

Officials at Bayer, based in New Haven, Conn., declined to comment on the lawsuit.

"Our corporate policy is not to comment on matters of litigation," said Ellena Friedman, a Bayer spokeswoman.

According to the FDA, the fatal rhabdomyolysis cases linked to Baycol were reported most frequently with elderly patients, when the drug was used in high doses, and particularly when it was used in combination with gemfibrozil.

Bayer had warned against combining the drugs. Hurt was not taking gemfibrozil.

According to the lawsuit, doctors also diagnosed Hurt with hepatitis, a liver disease, and proteinuria, a condition characterized by abnormal levels of proteins in the urine. It is associated with kidney damage.

The lawsuit alleges that these conditions also were caused by taking Baycol.

Hurt is seeking damages for herself and for the class in an amount to be determined by a jury and for punitive damages, interest, legal costs and "other relief as is just and proper."

Baycol first was approved for sale in the United States in 1997. It is one of a group of cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins. These drugs lower cholesterol levels by blocking a specific cholesterol-making enzyme.

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