Amanda Antell  |  March 7, 2014

Category: Legal News

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Pfizer class action lawsuitWest Virginia plaintiff Edna Copen is suing Pfizer Inc. for the injuries she allegedly sustained from the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor.  Copen alleges that she developed type-2 diabetes as a direct result of ingesting Lipitor.

Copen claims in the Lipitor lawsuit that she was first prescribed Lipitor in January 2003 to treat her high cholesterol in order to try and prevent heart disease.  Copen took the medication until 2005, when she discovered that the cause her type-2 diabetes had been the cholesterol medication.  Medical records indicate that the plaintiff was very healthy prior to taking Lipitor, and developing type-2 diabetes.

Ideally, in conjunction with healthy diet and exercise routine, Copen would have been able to live a longer and more active life.  Through print and televised information, Copen learned the link between the development of type-2 diabetes and the ingestion of Lipitor.  The plaintiff had been diagnosed with the condition in January 2004, approximately one year after starting her Lipitor treatment.

Copen now must undergo regular blood tests, medical examination, follow a strict diabetic diet, and take a variety of medications.  Additionally, the plaintiff is now more prone to blindness, kidney disease, neuropathy, and heart disease; the very condition Lipitor was supposed to prevent.  Copen asserts that if she had known about the possibility of developing type-2 diabetes, then she never would have taken the medication.  Copen states that Pfizer had the responsibility to warn her and other patients on this medication of this occurrence, because they were relying on the information given to them at the time.

>>Lawsuits Say Pfizer Concealed Lipitor Side Effects

So for being directly responsible for manufacturing, selling, distributing, and marketing a dangerous drug, Copen is suing Pfizer Inc.  The charges include: negligence, false advertising, concealing information, and misrepresenting a product.

Overview of Lipitor Complications

Between the years of 2001 and 2011, Lipitor (Atorvastatin) makes up approximately 25% of Pfizer’s annual revenue.  Reportedly, Pfizer has spent $1.5 billion in advertising Lipitor directly to consumers, continuously topping the medication sales charts.  The drug was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1996, and has since become the world’s best-selling drug, in pharmaceutical history. Prescribed to treat high cholesterol, millions of patients request this drug in order to prevent heart disease, and other complications.

However, for the past several years, it has been revealed that Lipitor has been causing a deadly occurrence in female patients, which contradicts the very purpose they are prescribed for.  This side effect is none other than the development of type-2 diabetes.

Currently, the FDA and medical experts are unsure as to what exactly is causing this Lipitor diabetes reaction, other than the changing of the body’s glucose levels.  A study which observed this effect was published in the British Medical Journal, which detailed Canadian researchers observing whether or not type-2 diabetes occurred in conjunction with statins; Lipitor was used in this experiment.  More than 470,000 patents were observed, and researchers found that the patients who had used Lipitor and Crestor had an increased likelihood of developing typ-2 diabetes by 22% and 18%, respectively.

Despite this, and other scientific evidence, Pfizer did not update Lipitor’s warningly label to include type-2 diabetes association until February 2012. Even with the updated label, it does not specifically state that this medication may possibly cause type-2 diabetes.

Lipitor Litigation Movement

This case is Edna Copen vs. Pfizer Inc., Case No. 2:14-cv-06964, in the United States District Court of Southern West Virginia.

In general, Lipitor lawsuits are filed individually by each plaintiff and are not class actions.

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