PHILADELPHIA, March 17 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 16, 2006, Hon. Mark I. Bernstein, of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, granted Preliminary Approval of a national class action settlement which will reimburse union health and welfare funds, self-insured employers, and insurers (“third-party payors”), for losses caused by the withdrawal of Baycol(R) cholesterol medication in August 2001. The defendants are Bayer Corporation and GlaxoSmithKline, who jointly marketed the drug.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050715/PHF012A )
Extensive negotiations in the case followed the Court’s ruling in April 2005, which certified a national class of those third-party payors.
Settlement Notices and claim forms will be mailed to class members in the near future. Each participating class member will receive compensation keyed to the volume of their Baycol(R) purchases just before Baycol(R) was withdrawn. The settlement allows each class member to choose between two alternative methods to measure their purchase costs, to accommodate class members who may not have detailed records of each covered prescription.
Because the settlement is based on a formula, the total value of the settlement will not be determined until all the claims are processed. However, plaintiffs’ counsel are satisfied that this settlement will provide an optimal recovery for the class members. Furthermore, because the settlement provides that defendants will pay fees and expenses for plaintiffs’ counsel, compensation for class members will not be reduced by litigation costs.
The Court set June 9, 2006 for a final approval hearing. If the settlement is approved at that time, class members will have until September 16, 2006 to submit their claims and participate in the settlement.
The plaintiff class was represented by Stewart L. Cohen and William D. Marvin, of Cohen, Placitella & Roth, P.C.; Steven A. Schwartz, Morris M. Shuster, and Daniel B. Scott, of Chimicles & Tikellis, LLP; Ira Schochet of Goodkind Labaton Rudoff & Sucharow LLP, and Ellen Meriwether of Miller Faucher and Cafferty LLP.
Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050715/PHF012AAP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.orgPRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.comCohen, Placitella & Roth, P.C.
CONTACT: Stewart L. Cohen, Esq. or William Marvin, Esq., Cohen, Placitella& Roth, P.C., +1-215-567-3500
