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BAYCOL RECALL
General Information
On August 8, 2001, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
announced that Bayer Corporation, the manufacturer of the drug Baycol,
was removing Baycol from the market because of reports of fatal rhabdomyolysis.
Baycol is a cholesterol lowering drug. These types
of drugs are commonly referred to as "statins." Statins
are commonly prescribed for high blood pressure and heart disease.
All statins have been known to cause, on rare occasions, rhabdomyolysis,
a painful condition that destroys muscle tissue.nbsp; Users of Baycol
have recently been reported to have developed fatal rhabdomyolysis at a
significantly higher level than users of other statins. Symptoms of
rhabdomyolysis are muscle pain, weakness, tenderness, fever, dark urine,
nausea, vomiting and malaise.
Severe side effects seemed to have occured when Baycol
was used at higher doses or when used in combination with gemfibrozil
(brand name "Lopid"). The FDA received reports of 32 U.S. deaths
due to severe rhabdomyolysis associated with use of Baycol. Additionally,
there are a reported 20 deaths outside of the United States associated
with Baycol.
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