Bayer Sold AIDS-Infected Drug Banned in U.S. in Europe, Asia

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. The 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. Bayer company continued to make old medicine for several months after it began selling new product. There obviously was a motive for Bayer to do this since it had several fixed-price contracts.

The 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.