A Missouri resident is filing a personal injury lawsuit and requesting a trial by jury against Pfizer Inc. after being diagnosed with type-2 diabetes, allegedly caused by taking Pfizer’s drug Lipitor (Atorvastatin Calcium).

Plaintiff Janice Lee Winters, age 67, began taking Lipitor in 2002 and was diagnosed with type-2 diabetes in 2003, her Lipitor lawsuit states. Winters stopped using Lipitor in 2011. According to her Lipitor lawsuit, Winters’ physical and emotional injuries are “a direct, proximate and foreseeable result of defendants’ (Pfizer and Greenstone LLC) actions or inactions.” Greenstone became involved with the sale of Lipitor in 2013. The plaintiff is asking for relief and judgment against the defendants.

Winters filed her Lipitor diabetes lawsuit using a Court-approved short-form complaint that makes it easier for plaintiffs like Winters to file a Lipitor injury lawsuit against Pfizer. Winters claims Pfizer has caused, “severe and permanent physical and emotional injuries” in addition to economic loss, and loss of enjoyment of life. Winters is one of many plaintiffs seeking relief from Pfizer.

Winters’ case was filed into multidistrict litigation (MDL) where similar Lipitor lawsuits are pending against Pfizer. MDLs are very common in drug injury lawsuits because they allow plaintiffs to sue companies individually but share in pretrial discovery and court rulings made available through other drug injury lawsuits in the MDL.

Thousands of Women Claim Lipitor Caused Diabetes

Winters is one of thousands of women who allege they were diagnosed with type-2 diabetes as a direct result of taking Lipitor and are taking action against Pfizer. According to other Lipitor lawsuits, Pfizer allegedly “was aware of, or reasonably should have been aware of, the risk of diabetes associated with Lipitor.”

Furthermore, other Lipitor lawsuits suggest that Pfizer used unclear labeling by warning users that Lipitor can result in “high blood glucose” instead of using the term “diabetes,” after the FDA demanded label changes in 2012 to reflect this risk.

Lipitor injury lawsuits claim that studies show that there is an increased risk of type-2 diabetes associated with Lipitor, especially in post-menopausal women.

A type-2 diabetes diagnosis means your body cannot use insulin properly and that your blood glucose (sugar) levels are higher than normal. This disease cannot be cured and requires consistent treatment and lifestyle changes. It can be deadly if not treated over an extended period of time. Complications associated with type-2 diabetes include kidney failure and heart disease.

The Lipitor Diabetes Lawsuit is Janice Lee Winters v. Pfizer Inc. and Greenstone LLC, MDL No.2:14-mn·02502-RMG, Civil Action No. 2:14-cv-03619-RMG, in the U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina, Charleston Division.