GERMANY: GERMAN AND AMERICAN LAWYERS ANNOUNCE PLANS TO BRING AMENDED LAWSUIT AGAINST U.S. BRANCH OF BAYER PHARMACEUTICALS FOR ITS CHOLESTEROL REDUCING DRUG LIPOBAY
Record ID:
862262
GERMANY: GERMAN AND AMERICAN LAWYERS ANNOUNCE PLANS TO BRING AMENDED LAWSUIT AGAINST U.S. BRANCH OF BAYER PHARMACEUTICALS FOR ITS CHOLESTEROL REDUCING DRUG LIPOBAY
- Title: GERMANY: GERMAN AND AMERICAN LAWYERS ANNOUNCE PLANS TO BRING AMENDED LAWSUIT AGAINST U.S. BRANCH OF BAYER PHARMACEUTICALS FOR ITS CHOLESTEROL REDUCING DRUG LIPOBAY
- Date: 14th January 2002
- Summary: (L!1)LEVERKUSEN, GERMANY (FILE - JANUARY 16, 2001 (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) VARIOUS: EXTERIOR SHOTS OF PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY BAYERS PRODUCTION HEADQUARTERS (3 SHOTS) (3.59) VARIOUS SHOTS OF DIFFERENT LIPOBAY PACKAGES (4 SHOTS) (4.20)
- Embargoed: 29th January 2002 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BERLIN, GERMANY
- City:
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Crime,Health,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVA9FEXNQSKYH1LM2FCHQHNJY9UI
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: The German lawyer Michael Witti and his American colleague Kenneth B. Moll have announced an amended class action complaint in the German capital, Berlin, against the American branch of the German pharmaceutical company Bayer AG.
Speaking at a news conference in the German capital Berlin on Monday (January 14), German and American lawyers announced their plans to bring forward an amended class action complaint against Bayer Pharmaceuticals in the United States.
Bayer's cholesterol reducing medication Lipobay has, allegedly, led to the deaths of at least 50 people worldwide and to health defects in at least 2,000 patients.
The lawyer representing the German victims, Michael Witti, told journalists that the lawsuit will be presented to a court in Minneapolis. Witti stated that it was important to provide both German and international victims of the Bayer-medication with an equal chance of being compensated under American law.
A U.S.-judge would have to decide whether the lawsuit for the German victims could be fought in the United States. In August 2001, Bayer had to take their cholesterol-reducing medication Lipobay off the market due to unsolved deaths allegedly caused by it.
According to a company spokesman, Bayer is currently expecting the lawsuit to be rejected. The U.S.-lawyer Kenneth B. Moll, cooperating with Witti on the case, stated that Lipobay had been mostly developed and tested by the U.S.-Bayer branch Bayer Corporation. Accordingly, the case should be tried in the U.S.
Currently, more than 50 deaths worldwide seem to be connected with Lipobay, despite Bayer's claims that a connection cannot be proven. The lawsuit will not only be directed against Bayer AG and Bayer corporation, but also against Europes biggest pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline.
SmithKline Beecham has been accused of having participated in the sale and marketing of Lipobay in the US in the Nineties. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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