A Cleveland woman argues that had she known of the risks of insulin sensitivity from a medication that may not even treat the condition for which it described, she would not have taken it, according to a recently filed Lipitor type-2 diabetes lawsuit.

The statin drug marketed by Pfizer has been on the market since 1999 and is supposed to reduce LDL cholesterol levels and therefore improve overall cardiovascular health.

However, Betty Dixon’s Lipitor diabetes lawsuit alleges with the assistance of a master complaint that the company relied on a study for FDA approval that “did not demonstrate that the drug was effective and in fact showed that the women that used [it] had a higher risk of [cardiovascular disease and other Lipitor side effects].”

Further, had the drug maker done adequate testing and updated its labeling, the Lipitor diabetes lawsuit notes that there would have been data suggesting an increase in blood sugar levels.

In fact, the company has updated the drug’s warning level in Japan and the European Union to include the information regarding Lipitor side effects and especially type-2 diabetes as early as 2009.

It was not until 2012, the Lipitor diabetes lawsuit says, that the company updated its labeling for Lipitor following the FDA request in 2011. Even then, it did not mention diabetes or the specific problems for women. Rather, it states that Lipitor “increases in HbA1c and fasting serum glucose levels have been reported with HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, including Lipitor.”

By comparison, Pfizer “changed the Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium) label in Japan to advise health care professionals and consumers that diabetes was a ‘Clinically Relevant Adverse Reaction;’ and that Pfizer knew that Lipitor could not be demonstrated to benefit women as a means of primary prevention against CVD.”

Type-2 diabetes is a particular concern not just because it is incurable, but because it compounds other Lipitor complications such as ineffectiveness regarding cardiovascular disease in women. Heart disease death rates are two to four times higher for diabetics and the condition is the leading cause of kidney failure and blindness in adults.

The Lipitor lawsuit joins other lawsuits that have been centralized in a Lipitor multidistrict litigation, or Lipitor MDL, in federal court in South Carolina.

Multidistrict litigation is like a class action lawsuit in that common issues and pre-trial motions can be handled en masse, however, plaintiffs are still allowed to pursue their own legal remedy in the form of a trial or settlement.

The Lipitor Type-2 Diabetes Lawsuit is Betty Dixon v. Pfizer Inc., et al., Case No. 14-cv-3526, in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.