|
Bayer lawyer
attacks expert
testimony in Baycol trial
Jim Hopkins USA TODAY
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - February
28, 2003-- Bayer, under siege in a Texas courtroom over deaths and
illnesses blamed on an anti-cholesterol drug it recalled in 2001,
went on the offensive Thursday.
A lawyer for the German company
attacked the testimony of an expert witness, Cheryl Blume, who
testified that she could find no evidence that before the recall
Bayer had reported 21 cases of illnesses and deaths associated
with the drug to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Blume
found the cases in a Bayer database turned over to the plaintiff's
lawyers by Bayer attorneys.
Bayer has said that the drug has
been associated with about 100 deaths and 1,600 injuries and
illnesses.
The price of Bayer's American
depositary receipts on the New York Stock Exchange has
plummeted 24% since the trial started Feb. 18. It is the first of
possibly thousands of similar lawsuits to reach trial, so it is
being closely watched by lawyers in related cases and by Wall
Street analysts.
The outcome of the trial could
bear on the future of other such lawsuits, and so the fortunes of
Bayer.
Bayer has denied the allegations
in the lawsuit brought by Hollis Haltom, 82, a retired engineer in
Corpus Christi who says he grew sick after taking the drug,
Baycol.
Haltom's attorneys are presenting
their case first, so much of the evidence so far has been meant to
show that Bayer executives knew Baycol caused serious problems
long before the company pulled it from the market.
Blume has testified as a witness
for Haltom's attorneys. Thursday, Bayer attorney Philip Beck
hammered at Blume's testimony that an FDA database did not include
reports of the adverse reactions. Prodded by Beck, Blume conceded
that she had not searched the database herself. She said she
relied on experts hired by Haltom's attorneys.
But Beck, displaying the FDA
database on screens in the courtroom, showed that at least one
case was in the database by searching it himself.
The high profile case is playing
out in this small south Texas city on the Gulf coast. Dozens of
spectators, many of them attorneys, have flocked to the courthouse
since the trial began.
It was unclear Thursday how much
ground Beck gained. Still, Bayer shares rallied, rising nearly 7%
to $13.42. That is well below its $36 high in the past 52 weeks,
however.
The trial has already led to
allegations of attempted jury tampering. Those claims followed the
disclosure that Bayer had sent a letter to thousands of city
residents urging them to keep an open mind about the company. The
letters were sent the day before jury selection began. Bayer said
the mailing was a mistake.
The trial judge, James Klager of
Nueces County Court, called the letters ''outlandish.'' The county
district attorney has said he is looking into the matter at
Klager's request. Baycol was prescribed for more than 6 million
patients worldwide, including 700,000 in the USA.
About 7,800 lawsuits have been
filed against Bayer related to Baycol. Bayer, without admitting
wrongdoing, has settled about 450 cases in the USA for amounts up
to $1.2 million.
Go Back To
News
|
