30 states to share $8m in Bayer case

Massachusetts is one of 30 states that will share $8 million from a settlement with the drug maker Bayer.

The settlement resolves an investigation by the states into Bayer's marketing of a cholesterol-lowering drug called Baycol, according to a statement released today by Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum.

The states acted out of concern that Bayer failed to adequately disclose Baycol's safety risks, McCollum's office said.

Bayer began marketing Baycol in 1998 and withdrew it from the prescription drug market three years later, after learning through post-market tests that the risk associated with Baycol was significantly higher than those of other such drugs, known as statins, McCollum's office said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)