Baycol is a classification of cholesterol-reducing medicines, also known as “statins.” Baycol as statins reduces the cholesterol levels by preventing a particular enzyme in the body which is involved in the building-up of cholesterol. Although all statins are linked with uncommon reports of rhabdomyolysis, there have been cases of fatal rhabdomyolysis in connection with the use of Baycol compared to other approved statins.

Bayer Pharmaceutical Division declared on August 8, 2001, that they removed Baycol (cerivastatin) voluntarily from the US market because of the reports of some fatal cases of rhabdomyolysis connected with the use of Baycol. They were flooded with legal claims after the recall of Baycol from the users of Baycol and from their families who experienced the adverse side effects of the anti-cholesterol medicine. In January 2004, Bayer gave an estimated of more than 2,000 claims that they were settled out of court while they were still facing more than 10,000 remaining lawsuits.

About Rhabdomyolysis

Rhabdomyolysis refers to a condition that results in the breakdown of muscle cells and consequently, emitted the substances from the muscle cells into the bloodstream. Sign of having rhabdomyolysis are muscle pains, tenderness, weakness, fever, nausea, vomiting, malaise, and dark urine. The pain may involve certain clusters of muscles or even the entire body.

Usually, the affected cluster of muscles is the calves and the lower back but there are some patients who do not experience the symptoms of this muscle injury.  There have been some rare cases when muscle injury is so acute that the muscle injury results in renal failure and other organ failures which are fatal. Fatal rhabdomyolysis was reported to incur when Baycol was taken at higher dosage when used by elderly patients, and it is used together with gemfibrozil (LOPID and its generics) which is another lipid-reducing drug.

Legal Issues Surrounding Baycol

If you are suffering from rhabdomyolysis or other diseases which link to the use of Baycol, you may file a claim of medical malpractice or drug liability against your doctor or pharmacist or against the manufacturer of Baycol which is the Bayer Pharmaceutical Division. Whatever be the facts that you have to support your legal claim, these lawsuits which are associated with liability for prescription drugs are some of the complicated types of personal injury subject. The facts and liability concerns involving your case which include the manufacturer and medical practitioner, should comply with the federal safety and professional practice standards, complicated medical procedures and conditions, some technological issues, and some concerns of potential federal pre-emption of the state law, to ensure that your legal claims can be handled well by the lawyer who is well-versed in drug liability cases.

Strict Liability

Legal claims which involve prescription drugs follow the same principles and procedures which are applied in evaluating liability for defective products so that a comprehensive overview of strict liability can help in understanding what you will need to present based on Baycol side effects.

Normally, to make somebody responsible for your injuries, you must be able to show that they are reckless and irresponsible, which in legal terms called “negligent”. You must have the capability to prove that their negligence results in an accident or injury. When products like medicines are sold and administered to the general public, it can be hard and expensive to prove how and when the manufacturer is reckless in selling and administering a medicine. Because of this, the law established a set of rules which is called as “strict liability,” which permits the injured individual due to a drug to obtain compensation from the responsible manufacturer or medical practitioner, without proving much that they were really negligent.

The concept of strict liability can work in different ways in the prescription drug perspective. As a sample, liability can be found for a prescription drug if the probable risks of injury created by the drug are enough in relation to the probable therapeutic benefits of the drug. A plaintiff also who is seeking for recovery due to strict liability for the injurious side effects from properly manufactured prescription drug must show and prove that the drug has caused the injury, and that the manufacturer violated their duty to warn of the potential side effects. As a sample, the pharmacists and physicians can share the blame for prescribing a hazardous combination of drugs or medicines without getting an adequate medical history to make sure that the problems do not happen.  The FDA recalled many drugs recently which caused the deaths or severe injuries to innocent victims of the pharmaceutical industry.

Theories of Liability

Basing on the facts and legal questions in your specific case, your lawyer may follow a Baycol legal claim on your behalf with the use of one or more of the following legal theories:

• Insufficient warnings or failure to warn the patients about the potential side effects of the drugs, including its adverse reactions if combined with other treatments; against a doctor or pharmacist.

•  The prescription mistake by the doctor or pharmacist.

•  Inefficient and insufficient testing on a treatment before to its usage or application, including issues of testing on humans and animals; against a drug manufacturer.

• Over-promotion. A snowballed aggressive marketing and advertising efforts by the manufacturers of prescription drugs, particularly by the pharmaceutical companies using the print ads, internet, and television forms of advertising, resulted to an equivalent increase in the liability for injuries due to the drugs being marketed; against a drug manufacturer.

• The poorly designed drug, the one which does not fit for its intended use; against a drug manufacturer.

Get Help Now

While we all know that all treatments have potential side effects, a drug manufacturer has the obligation to provide sufficient information to doctors about the risks connected with its medicines. If the manufacturer fails to do this, they can be held liable to the injured patients as a consequence of insufficient warning which is under the legal theory called “product liability.”

If you or a family member has used Baycol and suffered unusual side effects or injury, contact a doctor for proper medication. Then, contact an experienced lawyer who can evaluate your case and protect your legal rights.

Click here to know more about a lawyer’s role in a product liability case.