Posted by Editor on June 13, 2003 at 14:48:52:
http://biz.yahoo.com/djus/030522/0515000757_3.html
Over 100 killed by these drugs.
No doubt their deaths were attributed to AIDS.
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Dow Jones Business News
Bayer Says Acted Responsibly Regarding Hemophiliac Drug
Thursday May 22, 5:15 am ET
FRANKFURT -(Dow Jones)- German pharmaceuticals company Bayer AG Thursday responded to a media report that claimed it sold a drug with a high risk of transmitting AIDS by saying it had, at all times, acted ethically and responsibly.
A New York Times report cited obtained documents that said a Bayer unit, Cutter Biological, sold millions of dollars worth of blood-clotting medicine that carried a high risk of transmitting AIDS, in the Asian and Latin American markets in the mid-1980s.
The report claimed these sales of medicine for hemophiliacs took place while the company sold a new and safer product in the West.
The Times report said the documents were produced in connection with lawsuits filed by American hemophiliacs.
Bayer, in a media statement, said it had at all times acted ethically and responsibly.
"Bayer has always behaved responsibly, ethically, and humanely to provide life-saving products for the global hemophilia community," the company said.
"Decisions made nearly two decades ago were based on the best scientific information of the time and were consistent with the regulations in place. They cannot be judged on the information available today."
Company Web site: http://www.bayer.com
-By Rachel Graham, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 69 29725 500; Rachel.Graham@dowjones.com
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May 22, 2003, Thursday
2 Paths of Bayer Drug in 80's: Riskier One Steered Overseas
By WALT BOGDANICH and ERIC KOLI (NYT)
Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 1 , Column 5
ABSTRACT - Cutter Biological, unit of Bayer AG, apparently sold millions of dollars of blood-clotting medicine for hemophiliacs that carried high risk of transmitting AIDS to Asia and Latin America in mid-1980's, while selling new, safer product in West; Cutter Biological introduced its safer medicine in Feb 1984 as evidence mounted that earlier version, Factor VIII, was infecting hemophiliacs with HIV; company continued to sell old medicine overseas; records show Cutter officials were trying to avoid being stuck with large stores of product that was proving increasingly unmarketable in US and Europe; show company continued to make old medicine for several months after it began selling new product; telex from Cutter to distributor suggests motive: that Cutter had several fixed-price contracts and believed old product, which was not heated, would be cheaper to produce; precise human toll of these marketing decisions two decades ago may be impossible to document now; in Hong Kong and Taiwan alone, more than 100 hemophiliacs got HIV after using Cutter's old medicine, and many have since died; Cutter continued to sell older product after Feb 1984 in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Japan and Argentina; figures are from Cutter documents produced in connection with lawsuits filed by American hemophiliacs; Bayer issues statement defending Cutter, saying company continued to sell old medicine because some customers doubted new drug's effectiveness, and some countries were slow to approve its sale; in US, AIDS was passed on to thousands of hemophiliacs, many of whom died, before new product was developed; Bayer and three other companies, while admitting no wrongdoing, have paid hemophiliacs about $600 million to settle more than 15 years of lawsuits; photos; chronology of events (L) A division of the pharmaceutical company Bayer sold millions of dollars of blood-clotting medicine for hemophiliacs -- medicine that carried a high risk of transmitting AIDS -- to Asia and Latin America in the mid-1980's while selling a new, safer product in the West, according to documents obtained by The New York Times.
The Bayer unit, Cutter Biological, introduced its safer medicine in late February 1984 as evidence mounted that the earlier version was infecting hemophiliacs with H.I.V. Yet for over a year, the company continued to sell the old medicine overseas, prompting a United States regulator to accuse Cutter of breaking its promise to stop selling the product.
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