The American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology still want doctors to only prescribe statin drugs to reduce LDL cholesterol levels and toss out goal levels. One possibly unintended upshot: a significant growth in the number of statin users being diagnosed with type-2 diabetes — a side effect being alleged in over 150 Lipitor lawsuits.
These updated statin guidelines would increase the number of patients on a variety of drugs, including the Pfizer drug Lipitor, by nearly 13 million. And according to a frequently cited article in the British Medical Journal, Lipitor type-2 diabetes side effects occur at a rate of 31 and 34 events per 1,000 person years. What does that mean given the statin drug’s market share?
According to an AARP report, “Lipitor controlled about 33 percent of the U.S. market” in early March 2012. And the company is pushing an over-the-counter variant of the medication that would still run female patients the risk of developing elevated blood sugar levels.
Further, while the company’s revenues are dropping, Lipitor prescriptions are not; generic competition is coming from other drug makers. Even if the medication from all sources only retained a 10 percent market share of the 13 million new patients, the fact that statin drugs would be a maintenance treatment would still be significant. After all, given the numbers in the British Medical Journal study, some three out of every 100 patients who took the drug for a year could be at risk for such a diagnosis.
Not all will seek the assistance of Lipitor type-2 diabetes class action lawsuit attorneys, but many likely will. After all, in the worst case scenario of doctors complying completely with the guidelines and Lipitor dropping from 33 percent to 10 percent market share, that would be 1.3 million patient years. Doing the math, that might be tens of thousands of diagnoses of Lipitor type-2 diabetes side effects. Even a lower market share and a lower rate of adoption by cardiologists would still leave that at a significant amount of people at risk for problems with elevated blood sugar.
In general, Lipitor lawsuits are filed individually by each plaintiff and are not class actions.
Do YOU have a legal claim? Fill out the form on this page now for a free, immediate, and confidential case evaluation. The attorneys who work with Top Class Actions will contact you if you qualify to let you know if an individual lawsuit or class action lawsuit is best for you. Hurry — statutes of limitations may apply.
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If you’re a woman who was diagnosed with type-2 diabetes while taking Lipitor, or were diagnosed with diabetes within 90 days or less of your last dose of Lipitor, you may be eligible for compensation. See if you qualify by filling out the short form below.
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