Maryland plaintiff Linda Gaines is suing Pfizer Inc. for the injuries she allegedly suffered from ingesting the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor.  Gaines alleges that she developed and continues to suffer from type-2 diabetes as a direct result of taking Lipitor.

Gaines was first prescribed Lipitor sometime in May 2004, in the hopes of preventing high cholesterol and heart disease.  Ideally, Gaines would have been able to live a longer and healthier life with the help of Lipitor, considering that she had healthy diet and exercised daily. The Lipitor lawsuit also said that she followed prescription instructions.

The plaintiff continued to take Lipitor until sometime in December 2009 when she had been diagnosed with type-2 diabetes.   After discovering her condition, Gaines discontinued the medications and filed a product liability lawsuit against Pfizer.  At the time of her prescription, she had been relying on the accuracy of the information given to her.  Therefore, the Lipitor diabetes lawsuit alleges that Pfizer had the responsibility to warn her of this possibility.

There were allegedly no warnings or indications on the drug’s label about the risk of getting diabetes from Lipitor. The defendant company did not notify her or her physicians about the risks of taking Lipitor.  Because of her condition,  Gaines will now have to contend with frequent blood tests, strict diets, and will be at higher risk for cardiac disease.

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

Overview of Lipitor Diabetes Complications

Lipitor (atorvastatin) is Pfizer’s best-selling drug, and currently holds the title of ‘World’s Top-Selling Prescription Drug of All Time’.  The drug was manufactured and is still prescribed to treat high cholesterol in patients who are likely to develop cardiac complications.  Lipitor is a part of the well-known drug family statins, which is the most widely prescribed class of drugs in the United States.

Lipitor’s biological mechanism is blocking a certain enzyme which absorbs “bad” cholesterol in the patient’s body.  This enzyme is from the liver called HMG-CoA reductase, this enzyme is essential for producing “bad” cholesterol, which is also unknown as low-density lipoproteins (LDL).  By inhibiting this enzyme, the body’s cholesterol is lowered, which prevents plaque from accumulating in the inner walls of arteries, which is what primarily puts patients at risk for cardiovascular disease.   Additionally, Lipitor has been found to raise the body’s high-density lipoproteins (HDL), also known as “good” cholesterol, which protects against cardiovascular disease.

Unfortunately, it has also been found that the drug’s mechanism somehow initiates a serious negative reaction in some patients, specifically the alleged development of type-2 diabetes.  As of now, it is unknown as to why this is occurring, but many experts believe it is the body’s physical reaction to the cholesterol being lowered.  The FDA officially announced this correlation in February 2012, after they noticed that the number of Lipitor-induced type-2 diabetes injury reports had risen over the years.

Despite the severity of these Lipitor side effects, Pfizer did not mention any association with type-2 diabetes until February 2012.  Even then, it does not specifically state that this medication may possibly cause type-2 diabetes, but rather that the body’s blood-sugar levels may change.  Many product injury lawsuits have been filed against Pfizer on behalf of the labeling, along with other charges.

This Lipitor diabetes lawsuit is Linda Gaines vs. Pfizer Inc., Case No. 1:14-cv-00170-JFM, in the United States District Court of Northern Maryland.