Donna Bowen, Mike Davis and Mike Slack recently teamed up to settle six cases involving deaths or severe injuries from Baycol, manufactured by Bayer. Each case was settled individually for an undisclosed amount.

Baycol is one of the “statin” class of drugs, which includes Lipitor, Mevacor, Zocor, Pravachol and Lescol. Due to at least 31 deaths in the United States, Bayer voluntarily withdrew Baycol in August 2001 after marketing its product aggressively.

The deaths were attributed to the condition rhabdomyolysis, which is the breakdown of muscle-cell membranes and release of the contents of muscle cells into the bloodstream. Symptoms include severe muscle pain, weakness, fever, dark urine, nausea and vomiting. In severe cases, patients developed fatal kidney failure.

“Investigations showed that Baycol not only caused these horrible injuries, but Bayer was aware that its statin had a higher incidence of injury than other peer drugs, especially at higher doses and in women. There was some evidence that Bayer had suppressed negative data at clinical trials and eliminated women from trials at the higher doses,” said Donna Bowen, lead attorney on the cases.

Cholesterol lowering drugs are one of the fastest-growing segments of the drug industry, with sales expected to hit $20-25 billion by 2005.