2. Baycol, a statin drug also known as cerivastatin, was
pulled off the market in 2001 due to causing more than
100 deaths, mainly from complications of severe muscle
breakdown known as rhabdomyolysis. So far, Bayer, the
pharmaceutical company responsible for producing
Baycol, has paid out $750 million in settlements with
10,378 more cases to settle, and was fined for
withholding information from Germany's federal drug
agencies on Baycol's potentially fatal effects when
interacting with certain other drugs.
3. Lawsuits have also been filed against Pfizer
Pharmaceutical to recover damages by patients who
were prescribed Lipitor. Visit Lipitor Lawsuit for more
info. This statin drug has been linked to a series of
serious side effects including liver damage and kidney
failure.
4. Lipitor, Zocor and Mevacor have been linked to
rhabdomyolysis. The FDA has ordered "black box
warning labels" to be place on packaging, but has not
recalled the drugs as yet. Pravachol has been linked to
dozens of deaths from rhabdomyolysis.
5. Rhabdomyolysis develops when massive amounts of
muscle protein and toxic cell components from dying
muscle fibers are released into the blood stream to be
filtered out by the kidneys. These muscle by-products
saturate the kidneys and overwhelm the filtration
process blocking and damaging the structures and
tubules of the kidneys. This acute tubular necrosis leads
to kidney failure. It is reported to affect 6 in every
10,000 individuals taking a statin drug.
6. Initial symptoms of rhabdomyolysis are muscle
tenderness and weakness in the legs (especially the
calves), fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and dark urine. The
type of muscle discomfort can range from muscle
tenderness to cramping to actual pain. These symptoms
can occur even at rest and will increase with exercise.
Symptoms can continue for months after discontinuing
the statin drug. Monitoring blood levels may not pick up
ensuing rhabdomyolysis.
7. Although the pharmaceutical companies insist that only
2-3 % of the patient taking statin drugs have side
effects, a series of studies being conducted in
Southern California by Dr. Golomb show that 98% of
the patients on Lipitor and 33% of the patients on
Mevacor suffer from muscle symptoms.
http://www.acostawilliams.com/lipitor-lawsuit/