Lipitor, a statin drug manufactured by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, holds the status as the world’s top-selling prescription drug of all time. Pfizer markets Lipitor as a means to lower cholesterol and reduce risk of heart attack and stroke.

Recently, studies have found that side effects of Lipitor may increase the risk of type-2 diabetes, especially among otherwise healthy women who were prescribed the cholesterol drug.

However, the Lipitor warnings regarding the risk of type-2 diabetes added by Pfizer remain incomplete and inadequate, failing to properly warn users or the medical community about the risk of type-2 diabetes. Consequently, thousands of women may have developed type-2 diabetes from Lipitor side effects, which could have been avoided if Pfizer had provided more accurate information about the complications, side effects, and risks associated with taking Lipitor.

How Could Lipitor Cause Type-2 Diabetes?

Studies have shown that taking Lipitor decreases the body’s ability to control blood sugar levels. People who take Lipitor often have abnormally high blood sugar. Scientists suspect that the drug may be interfering with the pancreas’ ability to produce insulin, and/or decrease the body’s sensitivity to insulin. Insulin signals cells to take in more glucose (sugar), thus removing the sugar from bloodstream as it moves into the various different kinds of cells in the body.

Type-2 diabetes develops when the body stops producing enough insulin, or when the cells stop responding properly to the insulin. When there isn’t enough insulin, or the insulin isn’t working properly a person’s blood sugar level will rise, because the sugar is no longer being moved into the cells, and builds up in the bloodstream instead. The exact causes of type-2 diabetes are still unknown, but it has to do with decreased insulin production, and insulin no longer working as it should, which is exactly what long-term use of Lipitor does to the body.

Thousands of Lipitor Diabetes Lawsuits Filed

People take Lipitor with the hope of supporting a healthy lifestyle and not with the idea of developing diabetes. The FDA ordered Pfizer, the maker of Lipitor, to add warnings about the risk of getting diabetes from Lipitor to the drug’s warning label.

The warning came too late for some people who suffered serious side effects from Lipitor. Over 1,250 of these alleged victims filed lawsuits against Pfizer because of their injuries. More Lipitor diabetes lawsuits are expected to be filed as women learn that their type-2 diabetes diagnosis may have been caused by their use of the medication.

Allegations Raised in Lipitor Type-2 Diabetes Lawsuits

Consumers affected by Lipitor are now in the process of suing Pfizer for their gross negligence in failing to warn the public about the extreme and severe side effects Lipitor causes. Women filing Lipitor type-2 diabetes lawsuits against Pfizer allege:

• Patients and doctors were not adequately warned about the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes with use of Lipitor

• Pfizer promoted Lipitor as safe and effective, despite knowing that it could elevate blood sugar levels and/or cause Type 2 diabetes

• Lipitor’s label never carried a warning that it could cause changes in blood sugar levels and/or Type 2 diabetes until the FDA requested a label change in February 2012

• Even after the label change, Lipitor’s label still does not adequately warn patients about the risk of Type 2 diabetes

• Patients who developed diabetes due to Lipitor use now have to undergo regular testing of their blood glucose levels, adhere to a strict diets and take medication for the remainder of their lives and are at an increased risk for kidney disease, blindness, heart disease and other complications of diabetes

These Lipitor lawsuits are seeking to reimburse patients for physical and emotional suffering, and the cost of past and future medical care.