Bayer Animal Health Wins Another Battle in its Fight

                        Against Unauthorized Sales of Advantage®

                                                    U.S. District Court Rules in Favor of Bayer

 

 

     SHAWNEE , Kan. , February 23, 2005 – Bayer HealthCare LLC’s Animal Health

Division won another important battle against an unauthorized seller of its Advantage®

(Imidacloprid) topical solution.

     Bayer filed a lawsuit after learning that Jim and Debbie Shanklin (doing business

as Deb’s Critter Sitter) were advertising and selling foreign diverted Advantage directly

to pet owners in the United States via the Internet. 

     On January 14, 2005, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida

entered an order permanently barring the Shanklins from selling foreign diverted

Advantage through any and all channels of trade including their web-sites Petsitters.com,

Petsitters.net, Petsits.net, 2ebay.com, nofleasnoticks.com, bestpetz.com, and

jimshanklin.com. In addition to enjoining any future sales of foreign Advantage, the court

ordered the Shanklins to reimburse Bayer for its attorneys’ fees of approximately $40,000

and also ordered them to account for and pay three times the amount of any profits they

ever received selling foreign Advantage.

      “This win is evidence that we are aggressively continuing our efforts to stop the

illegal sale and distribution of Advantage,” said Jeff Gaidos, Vice President of

Marketing, North America , Bayer HealthCare LLC, Animal Health Division. “We will

continue to take appropriate legal action against those who violate our sales policy

because we are committed to protecting veterinarians, pet owners and pets from the

potential risks associated with purchasing Advantage from unauthorized vendors.”

     In addition to litigation, Bayer has taken a leadership role in protecting the

veterinary industry and consumers by working closely with the EPA and the American

Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) to stop the illegal distribution and sale of

counterfeit/foreign Advantage.

 

               About Bayer

                    Best known for its flagship product, Bayer Aspirin, Bayer HealthCare is a

                subgroup of Bayer AG with annual sales amounting to some 10 billion Euro. It is one of

                the world’s leading, innovative companies in the health care and medical products

                industry.  Bayer HealthCare combines the global activities of the Animal Health,

                Biological Products, Consumer Care, Diagnostics and Pharmaceutical divisions. More

                than 34,000 employees work for Bayer HealthCare worldwide.

                   Our work at Bayer HealthCare is to discover and manufacture innovative products for the

                purpose of improving human and animal health worldwide. Our products enhance the well-being

                and quality of life by diagnosing, preventing and treating disease.     

                    Bayer HealthCare’s Animal Health Division, the maker of Advantage® Topical Solution

                and K9 Advantixâ, is a worldwide leader in parasite control and prescription pharmaceuticals for

                dogs, cats, horses, cattle and poultry. U.S. operations for the Animal Health Division are

                headquartered in Shawnee, Kan.

 

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