Baycol Settlement Approved

A judge in Philadelphia approved a Baycol class action settlement designed to reimburse unions, employers and health plans for money spent on the recalled cholesterol drug. The action was taken on March 17, 2006, said a news report by ABC News.

A lawyer for the plaintiffs, Stewart Cohen, said the ruling was, to his knowledge, the first nationwide class action approved on behalf of third party payers in a case of a withdrawn drug.

The settlement could be as much as $10 million.

Baycol was removed from the market in 2001. Bayer, maker of the drug, has agreed to more than $1 billion in settlements. Baycol is linked to more than 100 deaths.