Statins are a class of drugs used to lower bad cholesterol levels. Cholesterol is needed by every human body, as it aids in hormone production and new cell development, but too much can be harmful.

So, to control the bad cholesterol (LDL), there are a number of statin drugs on the market. The best-selling statin is atorvastatin, better known as Lipitor. It’s also the one statin that has the development of type-2 diabetes as a possible side-effect, a complication that led to a Lipitor lawsuit filed by Indiana plaintiff Linda Alldredge.

Alldredge was prescribed Lipitor by her doctor to lower her LDL, and to help decrease the risk of developing cardiovascular disease in the future. She took it as directed until 2009, according to her Lipitor diabetes lawsuit. She and her doctor relied on claims made by Pfizer that Lipitor was “clinically shown to reduce the risk of developing heart disease.” However, she was diagnosed around January 2008 with type-2 diabetes after beginning the Lipitor treatment.

As a result of this diagnosis, Alldredge must regularly test her blood glucose, adhere to a diabetic diet, and take medication for the rest of her life, her Lipitor lawsuit says. Moreover, due to her diabetes, she is now more at risk for heart disease, kidney disease and blindness. All of which could have been prevented, the Lipitor diabetes lawsuit claims, had Pfizer properly disclosed the risks associated with Lipitor. If the company had, Alldredge says she would have avoided the risks by “either not using Lipitor at all or by closely monitoring her blood glucose levels to see if the drug was adversely affecting her metabolism.”

In Lipitor side effects lawsuit, Alldredge says Pfizer failed to adequately warn doctors and consumers of the risk of developing type-2 diabetes from Lipitor. She is not alone, as there are growing Lipitor class action lawsuits in which victims make the same complaints. Alldredge is not part of a class action lawsuit, but could join one.

Her Lipitor lawsuit accuses Pfizer of  failure to warn, negligence, breach of implied warranty, fraud, constructive fraud, unjust enrichment, punitive damages, loss of consortium for her husband, consumer fraud, and defective design.

The Lipitor Diabetes Lawsuit is Linda and John Alldredge v. Pfizer Inc., Case No.: 1:14-cv-01130-UA, in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York.

History of Lipitor

Parke-Davis Pharmaceutical Research, a division of Warner-Lambert and creators of Lipitor, obtained Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval to market it in 1996. Pfizer signed a co-marketing agreement with Warner-Lambert to sell Lipitor, and the two companies began sales in 1997. In June 2000, Pfizer purchased the company and all rights to Lipitor. It became one of its best-selling pharmaceuticals, generating billions in annual sales.

Pfizer marketed Lipitor as safe and effective, despite allegedly having knowledge of data indicating a causal relationship between Lipitor and the development of type-2 diabetes. This is at the heart of most Lipitor lawsuit complaints.

It wasn’t until August 2011 that the FDA’s Division of Metabolism and Endocrinology Products asked Pfizer to update Lipitor’s label to warn of the Lipitor type-2 diabetes risk. However, Pfizer didn’t comply until February 2012. Before that, Lipitor’s label “had never warned patients of any potential relation between changes in blood sugar levels and taking Lipitor,” and despite the update, the label reportedly still fails to adequately warn of the risk of developing type-2 diabetes.