Over 700,000 Americans were taking the popular cholesterol drug Baycol when it was pulled off the market August 8th. Bayer, the drug’s manufacturer, voluntarily lifted the drug off the shelves after Baycol was tied to rhabdomyolysis, a life- threatening condition in which muscle cells are destroyed and released into the bloodstream. The condition, which can cause extreme muscle pain, is occasionally so severe that patients develop potentially fatal kidney failure. While all statins carry a risk for the rare condition of rhabdomyolysis, over 52 deaths have been reported due to the use of Baycol while previously no other drugs in the statin family has resulted in fatalities.

Baycol was first approved in the U.S. in 1997 as a member of a class of cholesterol lowering drugs referred to as statins. Statins lower cholesterol levels by blocking a specific enzyme in the body that is involved in the synthesis of cholesterol. One of several prescriptions to be recalled for safety reasons in the past four years, Baycol has been in trouble with the FDA in 1999 for promotional material that was “false, lacking in fair balance, or otherwise misleading.” Baycol had generated sales of $615 million since February of 1998 and was expected to generate $875 million in sales for 2001 prior to its recall.

This is intended to be an informational site for people who may have suffered the effects of Bayer’s Baycol. If you, or a family member, have experienced adverse side effects as a result of taking Baycol, please contact us to find out your legal rights regarding this recall.