Pfizer Opposes Lipitor Diabetes MDL

New York, NYA multidistrict litigation (MDL) has been approved for the initial Lipitor (atorvastatin) lawsuits filed against the drug’s manufacturer Pfizer, Inc. The Lipitor diabetes lawsuits allege that Pfizer has failed to adequately warn consumers of the risk for developing diabetes associated with the drug. In 2012 Pfizer updated the Lipitor labeling to include warnings of increased risk for diabetes, however, the lawsuits contend that this was insufficient.

Lipitor belongs to a class of drugs called statins, which are used to lower cholesterol by reducing blood levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, or “bad” cholesterol, a contributing factor in heart disease. A study (Culver AL, Ockene IS, Balasubramanian R, et al. "Statin Use and Risk of Diabetes Mellitus in Postmenopausal Women in the Women's Health Initiative." Archives of Internal Medicine, 2012,172(2): pp.144-152.), completed in 2012, as part of the Women’s Health Initiative found an association between the statin class of medications and the development of type 2 diabetes in women, particularly post-menopausal women.

Pfizer opposes the MDL, stating that its creation could, “as past experience in similar litigations has confirmed, the creation of a products liability MDL, particularly where the product at issue --" Lipitor --"is one of the most-prescribed medicines in history, would inevitably invite the filing of numerous copycat actions with questionable merit by counsel hoping to avoid diligent prosecution of their claims and to leverage volume to coerce settlement.”