Numerous lawsuits have been filed across the United States claiming that the highly popular medication Lipitor elevates blood sugar levels and causes diabetes in women. And women who developed diabetes while on Lipitor are now wondering whether the drug causes diabetes.
What is Lipitor?
Lipitor is a statin, which is a class of drugs that lowers a user’s cholesterol to help prevent stroke and heart disease. Although clinical studies have shown that Lipitor reduces the risk of stroke and heart disease, most of the studies that have demonstrated this effect enrolled mostly men. This means that there is limited evidence that Lipitor reduces the risk of mortality in women.
People at Risk
Type 2 diabetes develops when insulin is not properly produced or used by the body. Studies have indicated that Lipitor and other statins may inhibit proper functioning of the pancreas, which releases and stores insulin. The Archives of Internal Medicine published a study showing that post-menopausal women, aged 50 to 79 years, taking statins are at a particularly high risk for developing Type 2 diabetes.
In fact, tests of 153,840 women in that age group showed that those taking Lipitor had their risk of diabetes increase by 48 percent over those not on the drug. Asian women had the highest risk of diabetes than any other ethnicity when they took Lipitor. African-American women had the lowest risk. Women who had a body mass index (BMI) within the healthy range had a higher risk for diabetes, but other studies suggest that those with risk factors for diabetes are even more likely to develop it if they take Lipitor.
In 2012, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that statin manufacturers were adding a warning regarding the risk of diabetes to its label. Attorneys at seasoned products liability law firms such as Lopez McHugh, LLP are investigating and reviewing internal documents from Pfizer to try to determine exactly when Pfizer learned of the high diabetes risk, especially among women, and what they did or did not do to investigate this dangerous side effect.
The attorneys at Lopez McHugh, LLP are dedicated to holding large pharmaceutical companies accountable for failing to warn about serious side effects associated with pharmaceutical drugs. We have experience investigating such claims the resources to take on large corporations in court. If you are a woman and believe you developed diabetes from taking Lipitor, do not hesitate to call our office today at (877) 737-8525 or use our website to schedule a free consultation.
