New Research, Lawsuit Suggest Crestor Issues Can Be Serious

Montreal, PQA new Canadian study is out that suggests a 15 percent higher risk for the development of Type 2 diabetes from statin use. Meanwhile, a Crestor lawsuit filed in the last few weeks alleges that Crestor issues have been manifesting into health problems for some patients.

The research, published recently in BMJ (5/29/14), was conducted under the auspices of the Canadian Network for Observational Drug Effect Studies. According to CTV News (5/29/14), health records from 136,966 patients in Canada, the US and United Kingdom were analyzed. The study concluded that patients who are prescribed strong statins like Crestor are looking at a 15 percent increased risk for diabetes within two years, when compared against patients taking statins that were considered low in potency.

Amongst the statins identified in the study, Crestor (rosuvastatin) prescribed above 10 mg was considered high-potency. Two-thirds of the study patients had been prescribed what were considered high-potency statins following a heart attack or stroke. The remaining one-third had been prescribed statins that were considered low in their potency.

The lead author of the study, Dr. Colin Dormuth, stressed that while researchers still don’t know the cause behind the risk, the study warrants that doctors need to undertake considered thought before prescribing statins to patients. “Doctors need to consider the possibility that high doses of statins will increase the risk of diabetes in such patients,” Dormuth said in a statement to CTV News.

Those comments were echoed by the co-author of the report. “The health consequences of a diabetes diagnosis can be significant,” Dr. Lorraine Lipscombe said. “Following a heart attack or stroke, doctors are more likely to prescribe a high-potency statin, but a lower-strength statin may be a better choice for many patients.”

Aggie Vizjak told CTV News that she was prescribed statins in 2004. This year, Vizjak has been hit with a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes. She was devastated and angry over the diagnosis.

“To take something I thought was benefiting me and now to find out that it’s actually created even more problems for me, I find that very devastating and very upsetting,” Vizjak told CTV News.

Meanwhile, plaintiffs in a recently filed Crestor lawsuit are sufficiently upset to take their health woes to court. Gloria Herrera et al. v. AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP et al., case number 2:14-cv-04134, was filed May 29 at US District Court for the Central District of California.

The plaintiffs hold that defendants AstraZeneca and McKesson hid research that suggested rosuvastatin could trigger Crestor diabetes and other maladies, deceiving consumers and the medical community in the process.

According to court documents, previous studies undertaken by AstraZeneca and McKesson suggested that Crestor patients were also at risk for kidney damage, cardiomyopathy and heart disease, as well as Crestor rhabdomylosis - a rare but serious condition characterized by the breaking down of muscle tissue that is absorbed into the bloodstream, creating a potentially dangerous situation.

“Defendants well knew that prescribing physicians would not be in a position to know the true risks of Crestor, and would rely upon the misleading information that they promulgated,” the Crestor lawsuit complaint said. “Defendants sold or aided and abetted in the sale of Crestor which was and is defective and unreasonably dangerous.”

“Defendants knew or should have known that Crestor was, and is, hazardous to human health.”