A German attorney said Friday he will file a class-action lawsuit against Bayer AG on behalf of non-U.S. patients who suffered side effects from the company's Lipobay anti-cholesterol drug.

Michael Witti said he would work with the Chicago, Illinois, law firm of Kenneth B. Moll, which sued Bayer on behalf of eight American Lipobay users in August. Lipobay was sold under the name Baycol in the United States.

"Expanding the lawsuit will ultimately lead to billions in claims against Bayer," Witti said in a statement.

Reached by phone in Munich, Witti said the lawsuit would be filed either later Friday or early next week.

"It's ready to go," he said.

A news conference is planned for Monday, when more details will be announced, Witti said.

Moll did not immediately return a phone call to his office, and a Bayer spokeswoman would not comment on the action.

Three of those named in the U.S. lawsuit claim they suffered personal injuries, including kidney failure in one case, as a result of taking Baycol.

But none of the plaintiffs said that they had been diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis - a muscle ailment associated with the drug.

Moll's lawsuit asks for unspecified money damages as well as warnings for users and a medical monitoring fund to pay for their periodic examinations.

Fifty-two deaths worldwide have been linked to Lipobay, described as a cutting-edge cholesterol-fighting drug until manufacturer Bayer AG withdrew it Aug. 1. Lipobay is estimated to have been prescribed for at least 6 million people.