Woman sues Bayer over son's death

CLEVELAND, May 30 (UPI) -- A Ohio woman has filed suit against drug maker Bayer, alleging the company's drug Magnevist caused her 24-year-old son's death in 2004.

The suit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court in Cleveland and is the first against Bayer for Magnevist, seeks compensatory and punitive damages, according to the Cleveland law firm of Spangenberg, Shibley and Liber.

Magnevist, a contrast agent containing the heavy metal gadolinum, is used to help visualize internal organs and blood vessels.

Beverly Rockwell, the mother of Trevor Drake, alleges the drug caused a skin and joint disease known as nephrogenic systemic fibrosis or nephrogenic fibrosing dermopathy, (NSF/NFD), in her son.

Drake suffered from kidney problems and had been on dialysis since the age of 19. A kidney transplant attempted when he was 21 failed. The Cleveland Clinic injected Drake with Magnevist in 2002 prior to a magnetic resonance imaging for end-stage kidney disease.

Last week, the Food and Drug Administration asked manufacturers to include a black box warning on the labeling of all gadolinium-based contrast agents that the drugs increase the risk of NSF/NFD in patients with severe kidney problems.