Doctors who prescribed cholesterol-fighting drug Lipobay to more than 25 of their patients were promised a free trip on the Orient Express train by drug company Bayer.
Bayer used the aggressive marketing method to build a customer base for their drug, launched in 1997, but withdrawn from sale last week after health concerns emerged.
Now the company faces "the largest lawsuit in pharmaceutical history", according to a lawyer representing American users of Lipobay.
The German government has criticised the Leverkusen-based firm for keeping silent about the known health risks of Lipobay for two months. Already, 52 deaths have been linked to fatal muscle weakness believed to be caused by Lipobay - and Bayer is not ruling out further deaths, a spokesman said yesterday.
Since Lipobay was withdrawn from sale, a steady flow of new allegations has seen Bayer's share value fall by 27 per cent. Shares in Deutsche Telekom also continued to fall yesterday, which also contributed to the Frankfurt DAX closing at its lowest level for two years.
The latest allegation involves a letter Bayer sent in early 1999 telling German doctors how they could take a trip aboard the Orient Express in exchange for sending in copies of 25 or more prescriptions they had written for Lipobay. Bayer denies it was trying to bribe doctors and said it had organised an "information event for doctors in southern Germany" aboard the train.
Mr Edward Fagan, a lawyer acting for American users of Lipobay, said yesterday that he wanted German users of the drug to participate in a US class-action suit against Bayer.
"This is not just about damages. They killed people . . . In hundreds of thousands of people there's a ticking timebomb. It's called Lipobay," said Mr Fagan in Berlin yesterday.
Over six million people worldwide are believed to have taken Lipobay, including 700,000 in the United States. German authorities believe seven deaths may be linked to Lipobay, while hundreds of others have registered with their doctors. According to French newspaper Le Parisien, over 80 French users of the drug have formed a support group.
Mr Fagan estimated that compensation would run into "hundreds of millions of dollars".
The German government has attacked Bayer for failing to notify the health authorities for nearly two months about Lipobay's side-effects. An official investigation found that Bayer had received reports of fatal side-effects in June, but failed to take action until August 10th. "Bayer's communication policy is unacceptable," said Mr Theo Schroeder, Germany's secretary of state for health.
Bayer is contemplating selling its pharmaceutical division since the withdrawal of Lipobay, one of the company's most lucrative drugs. The company had planned to join the New York Stock Exchange next month, but has suspended its listing until next February.
The market has been further weighed down by the continuing fall of Deutsche Telekom shares, which fell to their lowest level in over three years yesterday. Over €25 billion has been wiped off the German phone company's market value since Deutsche Bank sold 44 million Telekom shares last week, a day after they reiterated their "buy" recommendation.
German chancellor Mr Gerhard Schr÷der threw his support behind Deutsche Telekom yesterday. "I am convinced that Telekom is a company that is trading under its value currently," he said.
Telekom came under further pressure yesterday amid mounting concern over losses at its US subsidiary, VoiceStream. Company losses more than doubled in the second quarter to $575 million (€630 million).
