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British Medical Journal Study Shows Link Between Lipitor and Diabetes
By Courtney Coren
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Lipitor and other high-potency statin drugs that are often prescribed to treat high cholesterol may increase the risk of type-2 diabetes, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal.
The study published in BMJ in May 2013 found there is a link between statin drugs that are prescribed to fight cardiovascular disease and the onset of diabetes even among patients that were not previously candidates for developing diabetes.Â
Conducted by researchers in Ontario, Canada, the study found that the diabetes risk increased with high potency statins like Lipitor, Zocor, and Crestor when compared to other more mild statins like Pravachol, which researchers think may actually reduce the risk of the onset of diabetes.
For patients taking Lipitor compared with Pravachol, the researchers found that there is a 22-percent greater risk of developing diabetes. Crestor increased the risk of developing diabetes by 18 percent.Â
For Lipitor and Zocor, the risk went up regardless of how much the patient was prescribed. As for Crestor, the diabetes risk correlated to how much the person took and for how long.Â
The researchers looked at statin patients ages 66 and up from August 1997 to March 2010 who did not have type-2 diabetes when they started taking the cholesterol medications. The study limited the patients included in the study to those who had not taken a statin in the previous year. Patients who were already diagnosed with diabetes were not included in the study.Â
There has been an increase in lawsuits by patients who claim they developed diabetes solely as a result of taking Lipitor.
In August, Pennsylvania woman Doris Brown filed a Lipitor lawsuit after she developed type-2 diabetes while taking the cholesterol medication.
Before she began taking Lipitor, Brown says that she was in excellent physical condition and has no history of chronic illness — she was physically active, ate a healthy diet, and her total body mass index was about 20.1. A normal BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9.
Until February 2012, Lipitor drugmaker Pfizer Inc. had not issued any warnings concerning the affects Lipitor had on changes in blood sugar levels.Â
Pfizer began changing the Lipitor labels in August 2011 after a review was released by the FDA’s Division of Metabolism and Endocrinology Products. Pfizer then added a warning to the Lipitor labels in early 2012 saying that the class of drugs that Lipitor belonged was linked to an increase in glucose levels.
However, the Lipitor label still fails to warn patients that the cholesterol medication can lead to type-2 diabetes.
If you or someone you know was diagnosed with type-2 diabetes after taking Lipitor, legal options may be available to you. Learn more and get a free legal consultation regarding a claim’s eligibility at the Lipitor Diabetes Class Action Lawsuit Investigation. Experienced legal professionals have access to medical experts to assess whether or not Lipitor played a role in your development of type-2 diabetes, so act now.
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All medical device, dangerous drug and medical class action and lawsuit news updates are listed in the Drug and Medical Device section of Top Class Actions.
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