A 70-year-old Hamilton man has brought suit against Bayer AG, the maker of the anti-cholesterol drug Baycol, after developing a debilitating muscle disease linked to the drug.

        Stan Chesley, the Cincinnati attorney who filed the lawsuit Friday in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, said the action is the first of its kind in the Tristate.

        Baycol, approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1997, was recalled from the U.S. market Aug. 8.

        The next week, the German-based pharmaceutical company best known for its aspirin admitted it knew of 52 deaths worldwide alleged to have been associated with the drug.

        Baycol has been linked to rhabdomyolysis, a rare disorder that breaks down muscle tissue and releases it into the bloodstream, sometimes causing kidney failure.

        Plaintiff Robert Guinn, a retired chemical engineer for Procter & Gamble, was first prescribed Baycol in March. By mid-April, he experienced severe muscle pain and kidney failure, the lawsuit said.

        The lawsuit claims Dr. Mark Bibler, a Corryville internist, should have known that Baycol was especially dangerous when combined with the lipid-lowering drug gemfibrozil, which Mr. Guinn has also been prescribed.

        “It's bad to begin with, but it gets worse when you combine it with this other drug,” Mr. Chesley said.

        “I think we'll be able to show the problems with this drug go back many years, particularly overseas,” Mr. Chesley said.

        Neither Dr. Bibler, named in the suit as a co-defendant, nor representatives from Bayer AG could be reached for comment Friday night.

        However, the company has posted this statement on its Web site in response to previous lawsuits:

        “The company regards these claims as unfounded and will defend against them vigorously. Although fatalities are said to have occurred among patients taking the drug, as reported on a number of occasions, a causal connection has not been proven. Moreover, the company had included warnings in package leaflets and physicians' prescribing information.”

        The lawsuit asks for compensatory and punitive damages, which Mr. Chesley said could be in the millions of dollars.

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