Bayer's Trasylol Killed Too Many People; Lawsuits Arrive

(MoneyWatch)  On the same day that news of a study of 49 randomized trials of Bayer's anti-bleeding drug Trasylol showed there was a higher risk of death than for alternative drugs, Bayer learned it was slapped with a lawsuit from a woman alleging her husband died because Trasylol was used in his coronary artery bypass surgery.

Trasylol was removed from the U.S. market in 2007. In the new study, Canadian and Australian researchers concluded that:

While Trasylol was somewhat more effective at controlling blood loss and transfusions than lysine analogues, its higher risk of death and significantly higher price are deterrents to its use ... They recommended tranexamic acid or aminocaproic acid as alternatives to prevent blood loss during surgery.

In the suit:

Sneathia James claims her husband, Sam Lee Erby, suffered acute renal failure after undergoing the surgery at St. Vincent's Hospital in Birgingham, Ala., in October 2006.

But because of the acute renal failure the drug caused, Erby died on Dec. 7, 2006.

There were no warnings about Trasylol until January 2006, when an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine revealed the drug doubles the risk of renal failure, according to the complaint.

The HealthDayNews story says:

In November 2007, Trasylol manufacturer Bayer AG suspended the drug's marketing in the United States after the preliminary results from the BART trial were released. Bayer removed all remaining stocks of the drug from the U.S. market earlier this year. However, the German drug maker continues to sell Trasylol in some areas of the world.

But Bayer's own site says all worldwide shipments were stopped in 2007.