“Statin therapy was associated with 14 percent increased risk of type 2 diabetes” and “[i]nitiating atorvastatin and simvastatin was associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes.” Those results were contained in a Harvard School of Public Health study of U.K. medical records. The study’s findings appeared in the May 2013 edition of the journal Diabetes Care.
That result compounds the impact of another study, a Canadian analysis, published in the May 23 edition of the British Medical Journal in which Lipitor (atorvastatin) led the other statins with a “22 percent increase in the risk of new onset diabetes.” This space already dealt with the BMJ study; the Harvard study is a new wrinkle.
In effect, those Lipitor patients who have been diagnosed with type-2 diabetes during or after taking the drug can rely on mounting scientific evidence to validate injury claims contained in their Lipitor class action lawsuits.
Lipitor class action lawsuits have been filed as a result of the increased risk of new-onset diabetes with which the drug, which has been intended to lower “bad cholesterol, has been associated. Not only were labeling changes, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced in 2012, insufficiently tardy, the product’s long-undetected defect apparently led to diabetes diagnoses.
Although the FDA approved Lipitor in 1996, it was not until 2012 that the FDA issued a statement on updated Lipitor labeling that read, “The FDA is also aware of studies showing that patients being treated with statins may have a small increased risk of increased blood sugar levels and of being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus.”
Not only were the warnings a long time coming, so too was the manufacturer’s imperative (but lacking) knowledge of the product’s defect and of the unreasonableness of the risk of a life-changing Lipitor side effect such as diabetes.
Lipitor just happens to stand out among statins as a culprit of new-onset diabetes, according to the science.
Lipitor class action lawsuits hold Pfizer accountable for failing to effectively provide such crucial diabetes-risk information, about which it should have known. Representation by attorneys with a proven track record in handling pharmaceutical injury lawsuits can be an asset in seeking the compensation that Lipitor diabetes victims deserve.
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For a free consultation with one of the experienced Lipitor attorneys at Reich & Binstock, contact the law firm toll-free at 1-866-LAW-2400. One also may submit the electronic case evaluation request form posted on the law firm’s website, www.reichandbinstock.com.
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