Baycol Lawsuit Lawyer: Baycol Side Effects LitigationWritten by Anna Henningsgaard
The German pharmaceutical company Bayer AG announced in August of 2001 a voluntary withdrawal of its drug Baycol (cerivastatin) from US and European markets. Over 31 people have died while taking drug. They perish of severe muscle breakdown, a rare condition that has been associated with cholesterol-lowering drugs like Baycol. Many of people to die while using Baycol were also using gemfibrozil, despite warnings about danger of mixing two.Drug recalls are relatively rare, representing less than 3% of drugs that are released into market. The FDA supported this voluntary recall. Baycol has been used worldwide by over 6 million people, and it will remain on market in Japan where gemfibrozil is unavailable. Since statins (cholesteral-lowering drugs) were introduced in marketplace many physicians noted that patients experienced muscle spasms and pain. In this case of Baycol tragedies, this muscle soreness progressed to a full-scale breakdown, a condition called rhabdomyolysis. As this muscle tissue breaks down it releases toxic proteins into bloodstream. When this tainted blood reaches internal organs it causes kidney failure. Nearly all of Baycol deaths were caused by kidney failure.
| | Redux Lawyer Discusses Fen-Phen FadWritten by Anna Henningsgaard
In early nineties, Redux was original miracle diet pill. A predecessor to fenphen, Redux was just “fen”, fenfluramine in form dexfenfluramine. The drug increased production of seratonin, which gave brain feelings of satiety, or fullness. Overweight people felt a great responsibility lifted from their shoulders. In Redux, drug industry promised a thin, healthy body without painful exercise or unpleasant diet restrictions! Within three months, doctors were writing 85,000 prescriptions for Redux every week.We now know how this story ends. Like most miracle drugs, Redux was too good to be true. The increase of seratonin caused people using Redux to be moody and disconsolate. Soon fenfluramine cocktail drug fenphen replaced Redux on shelves. This is not end of story, however. Soon after thousands of Americans had swallowed fenphen pills, mortality reports began coming in. Redux and fenphen work same way, by flooding brain with chemicals that trigger that full feeling. Because patient feels full, they do not feel need to eat. The drug imparts a comfortable form of anorexia. While this is unhealthy in and of itself, denying patient essential nutrients, it was not worst aspect of drug. The drug did not simply elevate seratonin levels in brain, it flooded whole blood stream with seratonin. When this chemical reached heart it weakened heart valves, causing massive heart valve disease in people using either fenfluramine drug, Redux or fenphen.
|