Lipitor Plaintiff Cries Foul Over Atorvastatin Type 2 Diabetes

Baton Rouge, LAA woman from Louisiana finds herself as the plaintiff in a Lipitor lawsuit, claiming that the Lipitor she was prescribed for over 10 years to help control her cholesterol levels triggered atorvastatin Type 2 diabetes. Had she known about the diabetes risk, she would have avoided use of Lipitor altogether, or at the very least undertaken the regular monitoring of her blood glucose levels.

Lipitor, a hugely popular stain prescribed to control the so-called “bad” LDL cholesterol thought to be the villain behind the buildup of arterial plaque that in turn plays a role in cardiovascular issues such as heart attack and stroke, is associated with a risk for Type 2 diabetes. Other statins are also similarly affected.

The number of Lipitor lawsuits has resulted in consolidation of lawsuits within multidistrict litigation, with numerous plaintiffs involved in Lipitor Diabetes Lawsuits MDL.

Plaintiff Gladys Board was first prescribed Lipitor in 1998 to keep her cholesterol levels in check and to reduce her risk for cardiovascular disease. She used Lipitor for about 11 years until 2009. Six years into her regimen, in 2004, Board was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. However, she continued on with Lipitor, unaware of the inherent risk for atorvastatin Type 2 diabetes.

Board’s Lipitor diabetes lawsuit, filed in October, alleges that Lipitor manufacturer Pfizer Inc. and its predecessors were aware of data as early as 1996 that suggested a slightly elevated risk for atorvastatin Type 2 diabetes. Lipitor was approved by the FDA in 1996 under the Warner-Lambert label, until Pfizer purchased Warner-Lambert Co. in 2000. According to court records, Pfizer’s relationship with Lipitor actually goes back to 1997, the year the latter entered into a co-marketing agreement with Warner-Lambert.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), following a review of Lipitor, asked Pfizer to update product labeling for atorvastatin to include a warning about the potential for increased glucose levels in the bloodstream associated with Lipitor use. However, various plaintiffs have claimed that warning about the potential for higher glucose levels is a term most patients don’t understand, whereas a reference for diabetes would go further in alerting patients as to the true risk.

In February 2012, the FDA issued a statement that suggested patients employing statins to manage their cholesterol levels may be at a slightly higher risk for developing high blood sugar levels and Type 2 diabetes.

“Had defendant properly disclosed the risks associated with Lipitor, plaintiff would have avoided the risk of diabetes by either not using Lipitor at all or by closely monitoring her blood glucose levels to see if the drug was adversely affecting her metabolism,” Board said in her suit.

Lipitor, according to the FDA, was one of the best-selling drugs on the market, with annual sales of about $7 billion in 2011.

The lawsuit is Board v. Pfizer Inc., Case No. 3:13-cv-00661, in the US District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana.