A Maryland woman has filed a Lipitor diabetes lawsuit against Pfizer Inc. for allegedly causing her to develop type-2 diabetes after ingesting the heart disease drug.

Like millions of Americans, plaintiff Eloise W. had been contending with high levels of cholesterol and was prescribed Liptior to lower it, she explains in her Lipitor diabetes lawsuit. High cholesterol can lead to different medical conditions such as a heart attack or stroke, which makes statin drugs like Lipitor vital as a preventative treatment.

Eloise began taking Lipitor in February 2002, when her physician recommended it as a treatment option to treat her cholesterol. The Maryland woman claims in her Lipitor lawsuit that she faithfully followed the prescription instructions and the advice of her physician.

Unfortunately, this did not protect Eloise from the diabetes side effects of Lipitor, which allegedly had not been mentioned by Pfizer at any point before or after her prescription. She was diagnosed with type-2 diabetes on May 26, 2006 but still continued using the medication because she was not aware of the association Lipitor had with type-2 diabetes.

Eloise discontinued her Lipitor prescription on June 23, 2009 after she learned that Lipitor could affect blood-sugar levels. This biological change could allow for the possibility of type-2 diabetes, which led to the plaintiff filing legal action against Pfizer.

In her Lipitor diabetes lawsuit, Eloise states that the company failed to protect her against the adverse effects of Lipitor. Her lawyers state that the Pfizer had the responsibility to warn her and other Lipitor patients of all of the Lipitor side effects. Eloise insists that she never would have taken Lipitor if she had known about the possibility of developing type-2 diabetes.

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

This Liptior Diabetes Lawsuit is Case No. 2:14-cv-04743-RMG, and was added to the Lipitor MDL In re: Lipitor (Atorvastatin Calcium) Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2502, in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, Charleston Division.

Overview of Lipitor Diabetes Complications

Considered to be one of the greatest health crisis in the 21st century, type-2 diabetes affects millions of people across America. These patients must adhere to a strict diet, undergo regular blood tests, and take a variety of different medications.

Lipitor, manufactured by the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, was first approved by the FDA in 1996, and became one of Pfizer’s best-selling products after its release. In fact, Lipitor was soon declared the best-selling drug in pharmaceutical history, earning billions for the company.

Lipitor belongs to the statin family of drugs, which are specifically designed to treat high cholesterol. Lipitor works by lowering the absorption of bad cholesterol, while encouraging the body to absorb good cholesterol. However, it is in that mechanism which experts suspect are where problems start occurring.

Type-2 diabetes is caused by the improper production of insulin, which is crucial for the body’s ability to break down food into energy. Researchers theorize that Lipitor and other statins impair the body’s ability to store and release insulin, as well as decreases the body’s sensitivity to insulin.

Despite the severity of this complication, Pfizer did not update Lipitor’s label to include this diabetes side effect until 2012. Even with this update, Lipitor’s label did not specifically state that the drug could cause type-2 diabetes, but that the drug could cause changes in blood sugar levels.