A Massachusetts woman has filed a Lipitor Lawsuit against Pfizer Inc. after she allegedly developed type-2 diabetes from her consumption of Pfizer’s popular statin drug. She is one of hundreds of women pursuing type-2 diabetes lawsuits against Lipitor’s drug manufacturer.

Around October 2003, plaintiff Joan Hoffman was prescribed Lipitor by her primary care physician, “to lower her levels of low-density lipoprotein (‘LDL’) and as a preventative measure to decrease her risk of developing cardiovascular disease[.]”

She continued to take Lipitor until around July 2009 when she allegedly discovered that she had developed type-2 diabetes.

According to the Lipitor lawsuit, “for the rest of her life [Hoffman] must undergo regular testing of her blood glucose, adhere to a restrictive diabetic diet, and take medication to control her diabetes. Due to her diabetes, she is now at markedly increased risk of heart disease, blindness, neuropathy, and kidney disease.”

Hoffman is charging Pfizer with liability for a defective product design, failure to warn, negligence, breach of implied and express warranty, fraudulent misrepresentation, and violating state consumer protection laws, among other charges.

Hoffman is seeking relief in the form of general, compensatory, consequential, and punitive damages, medical and hospital expenses, refund of cost of buying Lipitor, and attorney’s fees.

This Lipitor Type-2 Diabetes Lawsuit is Joan Hoffman v. Pfizer Inc., Case No. 1:2014cv01139 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Type 2 Diabetes and Lipitor Users

Hoffman is not the only woman seeking legal justice against Pfizer for allegedly developing type-2 diabetes from her use of Lipitor. Many female Lipitor consumers are joining Lipitor class action lawsuits and filing allegations that Pfizer did not adequately inform their customers of this risk that affects women Lipitor users.

As of August 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration officially and publicly ordered Pfizer to update Lipitor’s marketing labels and advertisements to reflect the growing number of medical reports demonstrating a strong link between using Lipitor and consumer development of type-2 diabetes. These reports also demonstrated that the majority of consumers most commonly affected by Lipitor type-2 diabetes are women.

In February 2012, Pfizer did comply with the FDA mandate and altered the statin drug’s marketing materials and labels to reflect the alleged health risks.

Lipitor Side Effects

Many women have reported experiencing various side effects after using  Lipitor besides type-2 diabetes, including :

• Muscle problems, pain, or weakness
• Fever and tiredness
• Liver problems
• Nausea
• Diarrhea
• Upset stomach
• Joint pain
• Rhabdomyolysis
• Myopathy