Hemophiliacs Appeal Ruling That Prevents Them Suing Bayer Over HIV-Tainted Blood

Taiwanese hemophiliacs who allege they received HIV-tainted blood products from a unit of Bayer are appealing a decision by a U.S. court that they cannot sue in America. Their claims are “dramatic,” according to the Guardian. Bayer bought a company called Cutter, which made blood products for hemophiliacs:

The UK and other European authorities refused to buy blood products that had not been heat-treated in the 1980s, for fear of HIV contamination. Documents in the possession of US lawyers show, however, that Cutter did its utmost to continue marketing the products in Asia.

UK hemophiliacs were previously denied permission to sue in the U.S. According to the suit, it became difficult for Cutter to sell its products — which had come from blood donated by prisoners — in the West, because of heightened publicity over AIDS:

A copy of Cutter’s 1985 far east region marketing plan suggests that the strategy was to offload stocks of Koate before the “hysteria over Aids” set in and caused a slump in sales

In Bayer’s Q2 earnings statement the company said it had settled with the majority of hemophiliacs, but did not put a price on the settlement.

• Previously:
• CSPI Sues Bayer Over Alleged Bogus Claim That Vitamins Fight Prostate Cancer
• On Yaz, Bayer Believes “a Multiple of a Rare Event Is Still a Rare Event”
• Bayer Wants Berkeley to Give It a $13M Tax Bailout
• Bayer Says It Settled Decades-Old HIV-Tainted Blood Cases
• Will Roberts Recuse Himself If Bayer Case Reaches Supreme Court?
• CSPI: Bayer Falsely Claimed One A Day Vitamins Prevent Prostate Cancer