Louisiana plaintiff Deborah Baham is suing Pfizer Inc. for the injuries she allegedly sustained from the cholesterol-treatment drug Lipitor. Baham alleges that she developed type-2 diabetes as a direct result of using the medication.

According to the Lipitor lawsuit, the plaintiff was first prescribed Lipitor by her physician in 2003 in order to treat her cholesterol.  Baham wanted to reduce her cholesterol level to decrease her chances of developing heart disease and to encourage herself to live a healthier life.  However, after merely two years of treatment, Baham was diagnosed with type-2 diabetes in 2005.

Baham was not aware that Lipitor could possibly cause type-2 diabetes in patients until 2012, which probed her to file a lawsuit against the defendant company. At no point in time was she or her physicians made aware of the possibility of type-2 diabetes. There were no warnings or indications on the drug’s label, nor had the defendant company made any effort to notify the plaintiff.

Baham asserts in the Lipitor lawsuit that Pfizer had the responsibility to warn her and other patients of this possibility, because she was relying on the information given to her at the time.  Ideally, Lipitor would have allowed the plaintiff to live a longer and healthier life, providing that she followed a regular exercise and diet plan.  That is now allegedly impossible due to her new condition, and she must now contend with blood tests, a strict diet, and an increased risk of heart disease.

So for being directly responsible for manufacturing, selling, distributing, and marketing dangerous drug, Baham is suing Pfizer Inc.  The charges include: negligence, false advertising, concealing information, and misrepresenting a product.

Overview of Lipitor Complications

Lipitor was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1996, but the issue of its label has been a long-standing issue for the past several years between Pfizer and the public.  The FDA first requested that Pfizer update Lipitor’s warning label to include possible development of Lipitor type-2 diabetes in August 2011, after it was discovered that the medication changed the patient’s glucose levels.

As the most popular cholesterol-treatment drug in America, medical experts find it prevalent that patients are aware of the risks they may be putting themselves in, when using this medication.  The biggest criticism to this complication is that Lipitor may cause a condition which actually increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, which was what the drug was initially created to prevent.

Lipitor is a popular cholesterol-treatment drug that is a member of the statin drug family.  The drug’s mechanism is that it naturally lowers enzymes which create low-density lipids, which is bad cholesterol.  This process not only lowers the body’s bad cholesterol level, but even promotes the production of high-density lipids, which is the good cholesterol that is used for energy.  For years, physicians and patients have used this medication for the purpose of preventing heart disease, with no initial suspicion of complications.

This opinion changed when the FDA’s request to Pfizer to update Lipitor’s warning became known, leading to the eventual label change in February 2012.  The current Lipitor’s warning states that the patient’s glucose levels will be changed while taking this medication, but does not specifically state it may lead to type-2 diabetes.  Many critics state that this warning label is insufficient, and that the language is too medically complicated for a patient to comprehend.

Lipitor Litigation Movement

This Lipitor lawsuit is  Deborah Baham vs. Pfizer Inc., Case No. 2:14-cv-00373-MVL-DEK, in the United States District Court of Eastern Louisiana.