Pfizer Inc. and subsidiary Greenstone LLC are facing yet another another Lipitor lawsuit alleging that the cholesterol-lowering drug causes type-2 diabetes.

According to the Lipitor lawsuit, Pfizer knew, or should have known, about a potential link between Lipitor and type-2 diabetes, yet withheld that information while turning the medication into one of the most widely used drugs in the country.

Plaintiff Lois S., a Florida resident, filed the lawsuit in September, joining thousands of other similar Lipitor type-2 diabetes lawsuits consolidated in a multidistrict litigation in a South Carolina federal court.

Lois say she was prescribed Lipitor in 2003 and took the drug for about nine years. In 2005, Lois was diagnosed with type-2 diabetes allegedly as a result of taking Lipitor, according to the Lipitor diabetes lawsuit.

Lois’ Lipitor lawsuit further alleges Pfizer knew, or should have known, there was a connection between Lipitor and diabetes before that was made public in 1997. Instead, the Lipitor diabetes warning was only added to the product labeling in February 2012, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Division of Metabolism and Endocrinology Products requested that a warning be provided.

The Lipitor lawsuit also accuses Pfizer of putting profits before patient safety and further alleges that even after the label change, Lipitor’s label still does not adequately warn patients about the risk of type-2 diabetes.

Does Lipitor Cause Type-2 Diabetes?

Several studies have uncovered a link between Lipitor and type-2 diabetes, a life-long condition that causes a patient to develop high blood sugar levels.

In the body, food is broken down into sugar (glucose), which travels through the bloodstream. Researchers suspect that Lipitor can inhibit the function of the pancreatic cells responsible for storing and releasing insulin, and may also decrease the body’s sensitivity to the hormone.

FDA Warns Of Increased Risk Of Type-2 Diabetes

In February 2012, the FDA released a statement on Lipitor and statins and their relationship to diabetes. The agency warned that patients taking these drugs may have an increased risk of developing high blood sugar levels and type-2 diabetes, and announced that changes will be made to the drugs’ labeling to reflect this concern.

According to an FDA spokesperson, doctors should assess patients’ blood sugar levels after they have started treatment with Lipitor or another statin to ward against the diabetes risk.

Lipitor MDL

In February 2014, Lipitor diabetes lawsuits were consolidated in a federal multidistrict litigation in U.S. District Court in South Carolina. Earlier this year, more than 2,000 claims were pending.

Lipitor lawsuit plaintiffs involved in the multidistrict litigation accuse Pfizer of failing to warn of an increased risk for diabetes. They further allege that the company concealed the Lipitor diabetes risk in order to protect profits from the sale of the blockbuster drug.

Finally, plaintiffs claim that had they been adequately warned of Lipitor’s association with type-2 diabetes they either would have chosen not to use the drug, or be closely monitored for the disorder.

This Lipitor lawsuit joins the federal multidistrict litigation In Re: Lipitor (Atorvastatin Calcium) Marketing, Sales Practices and Product Liability Litigation MDL No. 2:14-mn-02502-RMG in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, Charleston Division.