Posted at 10 a.m., Wednesday, August 8, 2001

Cholesterol drug Baycol pulled from market

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — A cholesterol-lowering drug taken by 700,000 Americans — Bayer Pharmaceutical's Baycol — was pulled off the market today because of muscle destruction linked to 31 U.S. deaths and at least nine more fatalities abroad.

Baycol is one of a family of drugs called statins. Every statin has been linked to rare reports of the muscle side effect called rhabdomyolysis. But the millions of Americans who take any of five other statins sold here should not panic, the Food and Drug Administration said.

Baycol has been linked to significantly more fatal cases than its competitors, said the FDA's Dr. John Jenkins. He said there are no plans to strengthen existing warnings or take other action against the other statins — Mevacor, Pravachol, Zocor, Lescol and Lipitor.