A California woman is suing Pfizer Inc. for allegedly causing her to develop type-2 diabetes, after being prescribed the company’s popular cholesterol drug.

Plaintiff Sara S. claims that in direct result of using Lipitor, she developed the life-altering condition of type-2 diabetes and is now at a higher risk for heart disease.

Heart disease was the primary reason for Sara’s Lipitor prescription, as it is most often prescribed to lower high cholesterol levels.

High cholesterol levels can cause a variety of health problems such as cardiac attacks, and is often associated with other bad health conditions such as obesity and high blood pressure.

Ideally, Lipitor would have prevented the plaintiff’s bad cholesterol levels from getting any higher, while encouraging the production of good cholesterol.

Hoping to live a healthier and more active lifestyle, Sara was prescribed Lipitor in 1997 and had taken the drug according to all prescription instructions, and had also followed the advice of her physician.

While she initially reacted well to the drug, it was not long after being prescribed Lipitor that Sara started experiencing complications.

At some point in 2000, she was diagnosed with type-2 diabetes and has been forced to contend with the condition ever since. Among the symptoms she suffered included increased risk of heart disease, which eventually made her prescription to Lipitor meaningless.

By the time she discontinued the drug in 2005, Sara had been forced to adjust to her new lifestyle surrounding type-2 diabetes. To this day, Sara has to take a variety of medications, take frequent blood tests, check her blood-sugar, see her doctor frequently, and adhere to a strict diabetic diet.

For years, Sara had been completely unaware that it may have been her Lipitor prescription that could have caused her to develop type-2 diabetes, until an FDA announcement in 2012.

Overview of Lipitor Diabetes Complications

The FDA stated that Lipitor and other statin drugs could drastically increase the risk of developing type-2 diabetes, based on how they manipulate the patient’s blood-sugar levels.

Due to the interference in the body’s natural ability to break down food, experts believe that Lipitor’s treatment mechanism may be causing patients to develop type-2 diabetes.

Pfizer was forced to update Lipitor’s warning label to include some kind of indication, which only mentioned possible changes in blood-sugar; both patients and doctors have complained that this is too broad.

After learning of Lipitor’s association with type-2 diabetes, Sara joined thousands of other former Lipitor patients who were forced to contend with this unexpected side effect.

The plaintiff’s lawyers state that Pfizer had deliberately concealed this fact from her, the medical community, and patient population to preserve the drug’s market value.

It is important to note that Lipitor was declared the best-selling drug in pharmaceutical history soon after its release, and still earns Pfizer millions despite the release of generic Lipitor. Therefore, Sara’s lawyers contend that Pfizer had reason to omit certain facts on the drug’s warning label.

Sara insists that she never would have taken Lipitor if she had known the risk of type-2 diabetes, and claims that the company should have warned her and her physician.

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

This Lipitor Diabetes Lawsuit is filed as part of the MDL, 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.