A West Virginia woman is suing Pfizer Inc. after she allegedly developed diabetes by taking Lipitor.

According to the Lipitor lawsuit, plaintiff Sharon Hollandsworth was first prescribed Lipitor in October 2003, after it was recommended by her physician. In the hopes of keeping her cholesterol levels down, she had started taking Lipitor on a routine basis, and kept up a healthy lifestyle of diet and exercise.

However, less than a year after starting Lipitor, her doctor allegedly diagnosed her with type-2 diabetes. Neither Hollandsworth nor her physician were aware that type-2 diabetes was a possible adverse effect of Lipitor, according to the Lipitor lawsuit. Due to her new condition, Hollandsworth must now undergo regular blood tests, medical checkups, adhere to a strict diabetic diet, and take a variety of medications to control her type-2 diabetes.

Additionally, Hollandsworth is now at a higher risk of developing heart disease, which she was trying to prevent with Lipitor in the first place. If Hollandsworth had known about the possibility of developing type-2 diabetes, she never would have taken the medication. She asserts that Pfizer had the responsibility to tell her and other patients about this side effect because she the other patients relied on the accuracy of the given information.

Hollandsworth’s Lipitor lawsuit accuses Pfizer of negligence, false advertising, concealing information and misrepresenting a product.

Overview of Lipitor Complications

Lipitor (Atorvastatin) is a cholesterol-lowering medication, which has been manufactured by Pfizer since the mid 1990s. It is the best-selling drug in pharmaceutical history, with millions of prescriptions in the United States, and around the world. Most patients use Lipitor to lower their cholesterol to prevent high blood pressure and heart disease. Ideally, if this drug is used along with diet and exercise, Lipitor would allow the patients to live longer, healthier, and active lives. However, recent reports have indicated that Lipitor could be causing severe side effects in patients. Type-2 diabetes has been brought up the most often from these adverse event reports.

As of now, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and medical experts are unsure what may be causing this reaction, but some have theorized it has to do with the body’s metabolic processing. Most of the cases involve postmenopausal female patients who had used the drug for one year or more, although male patients have had the problems, too. Type-2 diabetes being caused by Lipitor has become increasingly common, to the point where medical experts recommend that doctors only prescribe an alternative drug.

Despite the injury reports and scientific studies, Pfizer did not update Lipitor’s warningly label to include type-2 diabetes until February 2012. Even with the updated label, it does not explicitly state that this medication may cause type-2 diabetes, but simply says the patient’s blood sugar levels may change.

This Lipitor lawsuit is Sharon Hollandsworth v. Pfizer Inc., Case No. 2:14-cv-00001-JPB, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia.