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Baycol News

To: National Desk 
July 3, 2002 CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas /U.S. Newswire/ -- Add Baycol to the list of firsts for South Texas and the Watts & Heard law firm. Despite repeated delays and objections by lawyers for the Bayer Corporation, the first trial setting in the nation relating to reported dangers in Bayer's cholesterol controlling drug has been set for October 21, 2002 in Corpus Christi.

Monday, Judge Hector De Pena of the Nueces County Court at Law Number Two, overruled arguments by the drug maker and its co-defendants that would have delayed the trial yet again. Attorneys for the injured man who took the drug say the time is now. Mikal Watts, lead attorney for the Plaintiffs' trial team, said "Mr. Haltom is ready to have his case heard, without the burden of further delays by the Defendants. We are proud that we will be able to bring his case to the jury sooner, rather than later."

Watts added, "Back in May of last year, Hollis Haltom was one of the first people in our area to be prescribed this dangerous drug. Although the side effects for him were immediately serious and damaging, the rest of the world would only learn about the dangers of Baycol much later."

Hollis Haltom is an 81 year-old retired engineer. Shortly after being given samples of the drug by his local physician, Haltom began experiencing many of the symptoms other users of the drug have complained of. Eventually he developed a muscle disorder called Rhabdomyolysis, which has been linked to Baycol use.

Chris Pinedo, the Watts & Heard lawyer who spearheaded the pre-trial work in the Haltom case, says,"Forcing the Defendants, in this case the Bayer Corporation, to play its cards early helps our clients and others whose lives may have been forever damaged by a drug they thought was going to be of help to them." He added, "Companies like Bayer deserve to defend their products, but they cannot be allowed to drag cases out to try to keep people like the Mr. and Mrs. Haltom out the courthouse."

The lawsuit names Bayer and its international parent company; SmithKline Beecham Corporation and its international parent company; and, the distributors of the product. The suit alleges that Baycol is defective and dangerous and that the makers and distributors failed to warn users of the drug's dangers. The suit also alleges that the prescribing doctor was deceived into believing that the drug was safe by distributors who were aggressively marketing Baycol. The Haltom's seek an unspecified amount of damages and punitive damages.

Watts & Heard is the Texas law firm that brought the first Ford Explorer rollover/Firestone detread case to the courthouse steps in January 2000. The Bailey v. Ford/Firestone case received national media attention before a major settlement was reached just hours before the beginning of the trial. Thousands of similar incidents involving allegations of defect, and hundred of deaths and injuries, have since been brought to light.

In August of 2001 the Watts & Heard firm tried the first case in the nation relating to the defective Sulzer hip implants. The recalled medical problem affected hundreds of patients who had the artificial joints surgically installed, only to have them taken out when a manufacturing defect in the device was discovered. The Rupp vs. Sulzer case resulted in a $15.5 million dollar verdict for the three elderly clients.

Then, in November of 2001, the Sanchez vs. Parke-Davis case was tried by the same attorneys who have now taken on the Bayer Corporation. In that case, the jury returned a verdict of over $43 million dollars for Margie Sanchez and her family. Sanchez suffered permanent liver damage as a result of taking the diabetes drug Rezulin that was later withdrawn from the market.

The Haltom case is expected to garner the same kind of national media attention.

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