Bayer AG fell to the lowest level in a year in Frankfurt trading after a U.S. judge invalidated a patent on the Yasmin contraceptive, giving Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. a chance to sell a cheaper copy.

At least one critic of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says the organization acted too slowly when it learned of the dangers of Trasylol. According to Dr. Dennis Mangano, approximately 22,000 lives could have been saved if the FDA had removed Trasylol from the market when it received evidence that the drug was linked to thousands of deaths. The FDA received that information two years ago from Dr. Mangano.