78 Trasylol Lawsuits Filed Against Bayer in U.S.
COLOGNE, Germany – Bayer’s CEO stated that Bayer AG is facing 78 Trasylol lawsuits in the United States as a result of its heart surgery drug. "We are not aware of any lawsuit outside the United States," Werner Wenning told a shareholders' meeting.
Trasylol affects the way in which blood clots. Prior to the drug’s removal from the market it was given to open bypass surgery patients to prevent excessive bleeding. Trasylol was mainly used during repeat coronary artery bypass surgery to reduce the amount of bleeding both during and after surgery. One of the most serious complications for bypass surgery patients is excessive bleeding. Clotting medications such as Trasylol reduced the amount of blood transfusion needed during surgery. In 2006 The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) published a study that reported Trasylol problems with an increased risk of developing heart failure, kidney damage, myocardial infarction, and stroke in bypass heart surgery patients.
Bayer withdrew their heart surgery drug Trasylol from the marketplace late in 2007 following a Canadian study that linked Trasylol with an increased risk of death and kidney failure. Bayer plans on defending Trasylol claims vigorously, however they are facing the potential of thousands of lawsuits from individuals and families throughout the country as more people discover that Trasylol was used during their heart surgery
For more information regarding a Trasylol lawsuit please call Fields Law Firm or e-mail us for a free confidential consultation. We are presently representing patients and families throughout the United States. We have additional information available at our national Trasylol lawsuit website.
Drug Administration, a “marketing suspension” of its heart surgery drug which has been associated with serious risks such as kidney failure, heart problems and death. Trasylol is a drug that was designed to control bleeding during heart surgery. Two weeks before the FDA’s announcement, researchers from the Ottawa Health Institute notified the FDA that they had stopped a study on Trasylol because it appeared to increase the risk of death for patients, compared to two other drugs used in the study.
Trasylol, an expensive medication given to heart surgery bypass patients during their surgical procedure to help prevent excessive bleeding may have caused staggering numbers of heart failure, kidney failure and strokes. Patients undergoing cardiac surgery were unaware that Trasylol, a medication manufactured by Bayer, has been found in clinical studies to lead to greater risk of death, stroke, and acute kidney failure.
In March 2008 the New England Journal of Medicine published an editorial – Learning from Aprotinin – Mandatory Trials of Comparative Efficacy and Safety Needed. They concluded the problems that have surfaced regarding Trasylol are going to be repeated in other drugs unless the FDA institutes changes in the requirements of postmarketing studies and restrictions on drug distribution and use. The magnitude of Trasylol side effects and the potentially fatal consequences that have affected tens of thousands of heart surgery patients are becoming more and more apparent.
Following the Trasylol study Blood conservation using antifibrinolytics: A randomized trial in a cardiac surgery population (BART) published in the May 14, 2008online issue of The New England Journal of Medicine study, Bayer decided to remove the remaining supplies of Trasylol from hospitals. This is the latest in a growing number of studies showing the dangers of Trasylol. In November 2007, Bayer agreed to suspend marketing their heart surgery drug Trasylol (aprotinin) after preliminary results from a Canadian study that revealed an increased risk of death for patients given Trasylol during bypass surgery.
Another study reveals an increased risk of significant Trasylol side effects leading to a higher mortality rate in aprotinin recipients. A recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine on February 21, 2008 shows an increased risk of death for patients receiving aprotinin (Trasylol) during coronary-artery bypass grafting (CABG). The researchers analyzed hospital data from over 33,000 heart surgery patients who received Trasylol and around 45,000 patients who received aminocaproic acid.