More than 3,000 women are pursuing a Lipitor class action lawsuit after allegedly developing type-2 diabetes from long term use of the statin drug. Because of the vast number of Lipitor type-2 diabetes lawsuits filed in federal court against Pfizer Inc., the manufacturer and distributor of Lipitor, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation moved to consolidate these cases into a multidistrict litigation (MDL) or mass tort.

This Lipitor MDL will not only address those patients who have developed debilitating type-2 diabetes from their use of Lipitor. The MDL will also address “all product liability lawsuits filed against Pfizer over failure to warn about the side effects of Lipitor.” All centralized Lipitor lawsuits will be heard by U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel and will be litigated in a South Carolina federal court.

While there are currently 134 Lipitor lawsuits involving 3,000 different patients in the United States. The rate at which these Lipitor lawsuits are being filed suggest that the reported incidences of patients developing type-2 diabetes allegedly caused by Lipitor may eventually reach 10,000.

Lipitor Bellweather Trials

In order to properly report and consolidate the findings and evidence of the court proceedings, Judge Gergel has approved a number Lipitor bellwether trials. The bellwether trials will be comprised of select Lipitor type-2 diabetes lawsuits alleging that the heart disease medication caused  type-2 diabetes. They will be ready for early trial in July 1, 2015. The purpose of these bellwether groups is “to help the parties gauge how juries may respond to certain evidence and testimony that is likely to be similar to what will be offered throughout the litigation.”

The bellwether cases will continue throughout the summer of 2015 and will aid in coordinating and consolidating evidence against Pfizer, as well as ease the burden of travel and time spent in court on plaintiffs and court witnesses.

History of Lipitor

Lipitor is a statin drug that was approved by the FDA in 1996 to treat and manage high LDL cholesterol levels for individuals at risk of heart disease. Since then, Lipitor has been prescribed to thousands of individuals suffering from high cholesterol.

The Lipitor lawsuits allege that Pfizer was aware of the Lipitor type-2 diabetes side effect for quite some time, but did not make concerted efforts to warn their consumers.

On Aug. 11, 2011, the FDA ordered Pfizer to change their labels and advertisements to incorporate evidence from medical research linking Lipitor with sudden development of diabetes in otherwise healthy patients.

Finally, in Feb. 2012, Pfizer complied with the FDA warning and added in a warning to their Lipitor marketing and labeling of the possibility of raised blood sugar levels and the eventual development of type-2 diabetes in some Lipitor consumers.

According to reports, there are currently more than 100,000 Lipitor users across the nation who have already developed, or are at risk of developing, type-2 diabetes after continued prescription and use of Lipitor.

The Lipitor Type-2 Diabetes Mass Tort is In re: Lipitor (Atorvastatin Calcium) Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation (No. II), MDL No. 2502, in the U.S. District Court of Southern Carolina.