http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20031018_861.html
Suit Alleges Anthrax Drug's Side Effects
Four N.J. Postal Workers Sue Bayer and Hospitals Over Anthrax
Antibiotic's Side Effects
The Associated Press
CAMDEN, N.J. Oct. 18 - Four U.S. Postal Service workers have sued the
maker of an antibiotic they took during the anthrax scare two years
ago, saying the drug caused harmful side effects.
The lawsuit filed in Superior Court on Friday claims that Bayer Corp.
failed to disclose data that Cipro could damage nerves and tendons.
The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, also accuses three New
Jersey hospitals of failing to provide warnings, perform exams or
offer alternative medications.
Thousands of people who may have been exposed to anthrax were
encouraged to take Cipro or doxycycline, another antibiotic. Anthrax
was found in mail or mail processing facilities in Washington, D.C.,
New York, New Jersey, Florida and Connecticut.
The anthrax attacks killed five people and sickened 17 nationwide. No
arrests have been made.
Representatives from Bayer Corp., the Pittsburgh-based U.S.
subsidiary of German pharmaceutical giant Bayer AG, and the New
Jersey hospitals said they were unaware of the lawsuit and had no
immediate comment on it.
Last month, after a Philadelphia law firm announced plans for a
similar lawsuit, a Bayer spokeswoman said Cipro's label warns of side
effects.
The four New Jersey postal workers suing Bayer worked at the Hamilton
postal facility, where at least four anthrax-laden letters with
Trenton postmarks were processed. That building has been shut since
2001.
Mail handler James Sherman said he developed pain in his elbows,
knees and groin shortly after taking Cipro.
"I later complained to the hospital," Sherman told The Star-Ledger of
Newark. "But now, I walk like I'm crippled all the time. I never had
these aches and pain before."