A Georgia woman has filed a Lipitor lawsuit against Pfizer Inc., alleging the cholesterol medication caused her to develop type-2 diabetes.

Plaintiff Gladys Haley was having an increasingly difficult time controlling her cholesterol level, so her doctor prescribed her Lipitor, according to her Lipitor complications lawsuit.

Pfizer’s advertisement of Lipitor promises that the drug will drastically lower the patient’s cholesterol quickly, and will encourage a healthier way of living and increased activity.

In February, Haley was diagnosed with type-2 diabetes. She now has to adhere to a strict diabetic diet, take a variety of medications to manage her symptoms, undergo regular blood tests, and is now more susceptible to heart disease; the very condition that Lipitor was prescribed to prevent, according to the Lipitor lawsuit.

Haley’s Lipitor side effects lawsuit notes that she decided to take this legal action after learning that Lipitor is closely associated with type-2 diabetes, but is not mentioned on the drug’s label. Had she known of the risk, she said she would not have agreed to take Lipitor.

The Lipitor lawsuit accuses Pfizer Inc. of negligence, false advertising, concealing information, and misrepresenting a product.

The Lipitor Diabetes Lawsuit is 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.

Overview of Lipitor Complications

Lipitor (Atorvastatin Calcium) is a cholesterol treatment manufactured by Pfizer Inc., and was first approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in 1996. It has since become the best-selling drug in the history of the United States. While the drug is generally regarded as performing the function it was designed for, recent concerns indicate that the drug may also be contributing to an increase in type-2 diabetes cases. Postmenopausal women are believed to be at the highest risk.

Despite the severity of the allegations, it was not until February 2012 that Pfizer updated Lipitor’s warning label to include anything about type-2 diabetes. Even then, however, the warning only notes that the patient’s blood-sugar levels may change and doesn’t specifically mention diabetes.