BAYER CONFIRMS IT RECEIVED AIDS DAMAGE CLAIMS
West German chemical
group Bayer AG <BAYG.F> said it had received claims for damages
from haemophilics who allege they were infected with AIDS
through a blood plasma produced by a Bayer subsidiary.
    Bayer's shares fell 13 marks to close at 292 in Frankfurt
today. Dealers said a newspaper report about possible huge
claims for damages triggered off the share selling in Bayer,
other pharmaceuticals and insurance companies.
    Bayer said in a statement it was insured against claims and
had received two. Bayer did not rule out that some infections
may have been passed on through the plasma in the past.
    But the company added that the method of production had
been changed and according to current knowledge there was now
no danger of contracting AIDS through the blood plasma. The
plasma is used by haemophilics to aid the clotting of blood.
    The Hamburg-based news magazine "Der Spiegel" reported in its
latest edition that the West German pharmaceutical industry
could face billions of marks worth of claims for damages from
infected haemophilics and their relatives.
 Reuter
