Stern Law Handling Cases Involving Lipitor Use
The skilled product liability attorneys at Stern Law, PLLC, are currently taking cases involving injuries from use of Lipitor. If you used Lipitor and subsequently developed diabetes, contact our office today to see if you might be eligible to file a lawsuit against the manufacturer.
Lipitor Use and Injuries
Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium) is part of a class of drugs known as statins. These drugs are synthetic lipid-lowering agents prescribed to reduce cholesterol in men and women. They work by blocking the enzyme – HMG-CoA – that contributes to cholesterol production in the body. Lipitor is manufactured by Pfizer and is reported to be the most widely prescribed statin in the country. But Lipitor has been linked to development of type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Type 2 diabetes is a disease in which a person has high levels of sugar in his or her blood, due to the pancreas not making enough of the hormone insulin to regulate blood sugar. Research suggests Lipitor can disrupt the pancreas’s ability to store and release insulin within the body, potentially decreasing the body’s insulin sensitivity and causing diabetes.
Diabetes is a lasting condition that can affect the quality of people’s lives and lead to a host of other problems. Symptoms and complications of type 2 diabetes can include:
- Skin conditions
- Eye complications
- Neuropathy (damage to the peripheral nerve causing numbness, tingling, pain and weakness in your extremities such as the hands and feet)
- Foot complications
- Diabetic ketoacidosis (a condition where the cells in the body cannot get the sugar they need to produce energy due to a lack of insulin)
- Kidney disease
- High blood pressure
- Stroke
- Gastroparesis (a condition where your stomach cannot empty itself properly due to damage to the vagus nerve, which regulates the digestive system)
- Heart disease
Recent studies concluded that people taking Lipitor had an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. In particular, post-menopausal women have a significantly greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes when taking Lipitor.
Lipitor Lawsuits
If you took Lipitor for treatment of high cholesterol and subsequently developed type 2 diabetes, you might be entitled to compensation from the drug manufacturer. The lawsuits currently being filed against Pfizer allege that it failed to warn patients and their doctors about the risks of developing type 2 diabetes with Lipitor use, particularly for women age 65 years or older, and that it sold Lipitor in a defective, or unreasonably dangerous, condition.
In pursuing claims for our clients’ Lipitor injuries, we are working to secure the following types of compensation:
- Past medical bills for treatment of diabetes and potential complications related to diabetes;
- Future medical bills, if you will need ongoing treatment for diabetes or related complications;
- Lost wages, if you missed work or cannot currently work because of your diabetes or related complications;
- Lost future wages, if you will not be able to return to work;
- Compensation for the physical and mental pain and suffering you have incurred and will incur as a result of your injuries; and
- Punitive damages, where the circumstances of the litigation show an award that carries the effect of punishment for the manufacturer would be appropriate.
Lipitor has not been recalled and is still on the market, though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had acknowledged a link between Lipitor use and diabetes. In February 2012, the FDA issued a statement saying development of diabetes was a potential risk related to statin use, which includes Lipitor. In prescribing Lipitor, physicians must therefore engage in a risk-benefit analysis through which they decide if the risks of prescribing the drug to a certain patient outweigh the potential benefits of taking the drug. But to do that, doctors must be aware of all the risks.
We all know that drugs have side effects. It is impossible for prescription drug manufacturers to create drugs that have absolutely zero side effects. That said, those manufacturers have an ongoing obligation to adequately warn patients and the medical community about the risks associated with their drugs. At Stern Law, we hold the manufacturers accountable and strive to ensure our clients receive appropriate compensation for their injuries. In doing so, we achieve justice for our clients and work toward making the pharmaceutical industry safer for people in the future. Our attorneys have more than 30 years of product litigation experience and are not afraid to take on the largest corporations or the most complicated cases.
In largescale pharmaceutical litigation, we know it can feel like you’re lost in the shuffle. At Stern Law, our clients are people, not numbers. It is extremely important that we maintain excellent communication with our clients, so they always understand what work we’re doing on their cases and what they can expect in the near future.
Contact Stern Law, PLLC
The attorneys at Stern Law understand how your drug product injuries have affected your life and are committed to resolving your claims to help you move forward. If you or a loved one took prescription Lipitor and were later diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, contact Stern Law, PLLC, at (844) 808-7529, to schedule a free consultation with one of our experienced lawyers.
