This Sunday’s edition of 60 minutes will feature a story on the dangers of a drug called Trasylol and how those dangers were covered up by drug manufacturer Bayer AG. It is believed that approximately 22,000 patient lives could have been saved if the FDA would have acted on pulling the drug from doctors and hospitals sooner. Trasylol is a drug used in the coronary artery bypass surgery (or bypass surgery) procedure to prevent a patient from having bleeding complications. As a side effect, severe kidney problems developed with a few cases being life ending.
When presented to the FDA for approval in 2006, Bayer AG intentionally withheld the side effect possibility with this medication. A German scientist by the name of Dr. Juergen Fischer indicates that Bayer AG has been aware of this tragic side affect since the 1980?s. The company simply chose not to conduct additional studies on the extent of the side effect. A well respected medical researcher, Dr. Dennis Mangano adds that a review of 5,000 patients in 17 countries who received the drug were at a double risk of kidney failure as opposed to those patients who received another brand of medication.
Finally in November of 2007, the FDA ordered for the suspension of Trasylol from being used in any type of patient surgical procedure.
Although this is good news for future bypass patients, for some the action came too late. The law firm of Cory Watson Crowder & DeGaris P.C. has filed lawsuits on behalf of at least two such patients. The premise behind the suit is that Bayer AG should be held accountable for putting a product into doctors hands knowing the side effect could be life ending for the person on the operating table.