A Colorado woman has filed a Lipitor lawsuit against drugmaker Pfizer Inc., alleging that the heart disease medication was the direct cause of the type-2 diabetes that she developed.

The Lipitor lawsuit states that plaintiff Linda Tolhurst was first prescribed Lipitor in 1997, when her doctor recommended it as part of her treatment option because she had developed high cholesterol.  She likely agreed to take the medication in the hopes of preventing heart disease, and to live a healthier and longer life.  Before her diabetic development, Tolhurst was an active and healthy individual who maintained average weight.

In 2011, Tolhurst was diagnosed with type-2 diabetes and has been living with the condition since then.  As a result, she must now adhere to a strict diabetic diet, undergo regular blood tests, and take a variety of medications to control her blood sugar, her Lipitor diabetes lawsuit says.  Because of her type-2 diabetes, Tolhurst is now more susceptible to heart disease, blindness, neuropathy, and kidney disease. She is also now more vulnerable to the condition that Lipitor was prescribed to treat.

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Tolhurst claims in the Lipitor lawsuit that Pfizer had the legal and civil responsibility to warn her and other patients of this possible side effect. Patients rely on accurate information from drug companies so they can weigh the risks of taking the drug. However, there were no warnings or indications on the drug’s label, nor had Pfizer notified her or physicians in any way of the diabetic risk. Tolhurst states that she never would have taken the medication if she had known about type-2 diabetes being a possible side effect.

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

The Lipitor lawsuit is Linda Tolhurst v. Pfizer Inc., Case No. 1:14-cv-00578-JLK, in the United States District Court of Colorado.

Overview of Lipitor Complications

Lipitor (generic, atorvastatin) is a statin drug which is used to lower bad cholesterol in high risk patients. It was approved by the FDA in 1996, and is manufactured by Pfizer Inc.  Lipitor is primarily prescribed to patients to lower their cholesterol, in order to prevent high blood pressure and other heart problems.  Ideally, if the drug is used alongside a proper diet and exercise, the patient will live a longer and healthier life.

It is the best-selling drug in pharmaceutical history, garnering millions of prescriptions each year, making it Pfizer’s best-selling product. Despite its success, recent FDA injury reports indicate that this drug may increase the risk of developing type-2 diabetes.

Medical experts are unsure as to why this is happening, but it seems to occur most often in postmenopausal women who have been on the drug longer than one year. Some experts theorize that the patient’s metabolic process of absorbing Lipitor may be what is causing it.  In addition to preventing cells from absorbing bad cholesterol, the drug also encourages the body to absorb good cholesterol  This process, however, changes the patient’s blood-sugar level considerably, which may trigger the onset of type-2 diabetes. No definite theories have been proven at this time.

Despite the possible risks linked to Lipitor, Pfizer did update Lipitor’s warning to include a change in the patient’s blood sugar until February 2012, but it does not explicitly mention type-2 diabetes — a fact that many Lipitor lawsuits claim is negligence.