A South Carolina woman has filed a product liability lawsuit alleging that pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. failed to provide adequate warnings for side effects associated with their cholesterol lowering statin drug, Lipitor.

Plaintiff Becky S. claims that she was prescribed Lipitor in 2010 to lower her high cholesterol for a period of approximately two years. In June 2010, Becky was diagnosed with type-2 diabetes, allegedly as a result of taking the statin medication.

According to the Lipitor diabetes lawsuit, Pfizer knew or should have known about the potential link between Lipitor and type-2 diabetes, yet it allegedly withheld information from consumers and the medical community while promoting an aggressive marketing campaign for the medication.

Becky’s Lipitor lawsuit further alleges Pfizer promoted the drug as safe and effective, despite knowing that it could elevate blood sugar levels and cause type-2 diabetes.

This Lipitor lawsuit is included in the thousands of consolidated lawsuits, known as a multidistrict litigation, or MDL, that all assert similar allegations against Pfizer over Lipitor side effects.

Lipitor, Type-2 Diabetes and Women

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) added a new warning to the drug label of Lipitor to alert patients that the risk for developing type-2 diabetes has increased slightly in some patients taking Lipitor, as well as some other statin drugs.

The FDA has noted an association between taking these drugs and increased levels of sugar in the blood, which may be a precursor to diabetes. “A small increased risk of raised blood sugar levels and the development of type 2 diabetes have been reported with the use of statins,” the FDA warning says.

The Women’s Research Institute at Northwestern University published data indicating a strong correlation between postmenopausal women who take statins and an almost 50 percent greater risk of type-2 diabetes than those not taking cholesterol-lowering drugs.

The scientists looked at data on 153,840 women averaging 63 years old, who did not have diabetes when they entered the study in 1993. About 7 percent of these women were taking statins at that time.

When follow-up data were examined in 2005, the number of new-onset cases of diabetes was 10,242. The risks were seen with all types of statins used in all ethnicities. The highest risk was among Asian women.

However, researchers cautioned that due to the extensive use of statins in the aging female populations, more studies are needed to further understand the association with statins like Lipitor and the development of type-2 diabetes.

Lipitor Lawsuits

Over 2,000 Lipitor-related product liability lawsuits alleging fraud and negligence by Pfizer have been consolidated into a multidistrict litigation. Judge Richard Gergel of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina is presiding over the MDL. An MDL is similar to a class action lawsuit, except that each plaintiff’s allegation is judged separately.

The first of the federal Lipitor type-2 diabetes cases is scheduled to go to trial in January 2016. Lipitor bellwether trials will help parties evaluate the strength of the evidence and evaluate settlement options for the remaining cases.

The Lipitor Diabetes MDL is In Re: Lipitor (Atorvastatin Calcium) Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2:14-mn-02502-RMG, in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, Charleston Division.