Bayer
agrees to pay $1.06 billion
to settle 2,771 cases over Baycol
JULY 14, 2004, FRANKFURT:
Bayer has agreed to pay around $1.06bn to settle 2,771 cases over
recalled cholesterol drug Baycol, the German drugs and chemicals group
said on Tuesday, with 8,048 cases still pending.
The settlement amount is up from $1.04 billion to settle 2,710 cases
reported by the company in June. The number of cases pending is down
from 8,563 in June. A Bayer spokeswoman said there were no cases
scheduled to go to trial in July over Baycol, which is now linked with
more than 100 deaths and was recalled in August ’01.
Bayer said in a statement that the number of pending cases had fallen
due to voluntary dismissals by plaintiffs, dismissals based on
settlements and court-ordered dismissals including those for procedural
failings.
It said two courts had entered an order requiring plaintiffs alleging
injury from Baycol to furnish medical evidence of the injury according
to a court schedule, and numerous cases had been dismissed for failure
to provide this evidence.
“Bayer believes that these orders present the potential for the
dismissal of a significant number of cases,” Bayer said.
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