Arkansas plaintiff Shirley C. is suing Pfizer Inc. for allegedly causing her to develop type-2 diabetes after taking their cholesterol-lowering drug. Lipitor is one of the most-commonly prescribed drugs in America, which Shirley claims had caused her to develop personal injury in the form of type-2 diabetes.

Lipitor’s popularity stems from its unique treatment mechanism, which lowers bad cholesterol in patients while encouraging the body to absorb good cholesterol. This drug is not only meant to decrease the patient’s risk for heart disease or other cardiovascular injuries, but it can also encourage a more active and healthier lifestyle. Ideally, patients would have greater longevity  and would only be minimally inconvenienced by the drug’s prescription.

After she was diagnosed with high cholesterol, Shirley’s doctor had prescribed her Lipitor in 2000 and had taken it faithfully for years. Up until her prescription ended in 2009, she had followed all the instructions of the label and listened to the advice of her physician. Several years later, the plaintiff started experiencing odd symptoms, such as fatigue, that could not be explained through non-diagnostic means. Shirley was officially diagnosed with type-2 diabetes in 2012, the same year the FDA had released a public warning describing the alleged correlation between type-2 diabetes and statin drugs, like Lipitor.

Specifically, the warning stated that statin drugs could cause changes in the patient’s blood-sugar levels, which could result in type-2 diabetes. Type-2 diabetes develops when there is a sudden fluctuation and loss in insulin and blood-sugar, leading to fainting spells, insulin shock, and other devastating conditions. Despite the severity of this risk, Pfizer allegedly chose to omit this information from Lipitor’s label, in order to protect the drug’s market value. This has caused outcry from the public, medical community, and legal experts. While Pfizer was required to update Lipitor’s warning label in 2012 to address this concern, the drug’s current label still does not specifically state the risk of type-2 diabetes; the label does warn against possible changes in blood-sugar, but does not mention why this is prevalent in preventing type-2 diabetes.

Overview of Lipitor Lawsuit Allegations

Shirely is filing legal action against Pfizer for failing to warn her against the potential side effects of Lipitor. The plaintiff’s lawyers state that the defendant had the civil responsibility of warning their client and other Lipitor patients of all possible complications that could result from taking Lipitor. Shirley insists that she never would have agreed to take Lipitor if she had known about the risk of type-2 diabetes. It is important to note that Lipitor has allegedly caused the plaintiff to be at higher risk for heart disease than when she was initially prescribed the drug; additionally, Shirley is now at a high risk for blindness, neuropathy, and even amputation because of her Lipitor diabetes condition.

Shirley is currently managing her diabetic condition, by taking a variety of diabetic treatment medications to control her symptoms. She also must regularly see her doctor, constantly check her blood-sugar levels, and adhere to a strict diabetic diet. Shirley is suing Pfizer for allegedly manufacturing, selling, distributing, and marketing a dangerous drug, claiming that the drug was unreasonably dangerous. The charges include: negligence, false advertising, concealing information, and misrepresenting a product.

This Lipitor Lawsuit is filed In re: Lipitor (Atorvastatin Calcium) Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2502, in the U. S. District Court of South Carolina, Charleston Division.