Bayer's Headache

by Sheldon Rampton — March 7, 2003 - 12:00am
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A $100 million lawsuit against Bayer Corp. has yielded e-mails and internal documents that suggest the drug company let marketing and PR concerns trump safety, disregarding disturbing research on the cholesterol drug Baycol before it was pulled off the market because of dozens of deaths. "There have been some deaths related to Baycol. ... So much for keeping this quiet," said one E-mail. Another message wondered, "How will marketing spin this?" Other documents show that Bayer executives worried about studying possible side effects of the drug because any results would have to be reported to the FDA.

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Associated Press, March 7, 2003