QUESTION

What is the Latest Update on the Lipitor Diabetes Litigation?

5 ADD YOUR COMMENTS

ANSWER

In January 2017, the U.S. District Judge presiding over the Lipitor litigation granted Pfizer’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed all cases. Despite strong evidence in support of these claims, the decision has been upheld on appeal.

New cases are no longer being accepted. This page is maintained for informational purposes only.

Lipitor (atorvastatin) was first introduced in 1996 and generated more than $125 billion in sales for Pfizer before it became available as a generic in 2011.

It is one of the best known brand-name prescription medications in the world and thousands of former users may have developed type 2 diabetes as a result of the cholesterol drug.

A diabetes diagnosis from Lipitor can have a substantial impact on an individual’s overall health and quality of life, resulting in permanent lifestyle changes and increasing the risk of a number of other health problems, including the heart disease the drug was supposed to help prevent.

According to allegations raised in the Lipitor diabetes litigation, Pfizer should be required to compensate users for failing to disclose information about the potential side effects of their medication.

If proper warnings had been provided for consumers and the medical community, thousands of women may have avoided this devastating disease by choosing not to use Lipitor or by monitoring their blood glucose levels to see if the drug was adversely affecting their metabolism.

Lipitor Diabetes Litigation Status

In February 2014, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) approved a request to consolidate and centralize all Lipitor diabetes cases pending throughout the federal court system, placing the litigation before U.S. District Judge Richard M. Gergel in the District of South Carolina to reduce duplicative discovery, avoid conflicting pretrial rulings from different judges and to serve the convenience of the parties, witnesses and the courts.

While an MDL is often confused with a Lipitor class action lawsuit, each claim would still remain an individual case. The litigation will not proceed through one class representative, but each plaintiff must still establish that their specific diabetes diagnosis was caused by Lipitor and that Pfizer provided inadequate warnings.

As part of the coordinated pretrial proceedings in the Lipitor MDL, a small group of case were prepared for early trial dates, known as “bellwether” cases, which are designed to help the parties gauge how juries may respond to certain evidence and testimony that will be repeated throughout the litigation.

The first Lipitor trial was scheduled to begin in November 2015. However, the case was dismissed and no claims were allowed to go before a jury in the federal court system.

Austin Kirk

Last Updated August 10, 2015
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5 Comments

5 Comments • Add Your Comments

  • Melanie says:

    I have been taking lipitor for many years. I was told it was to help my heart because of heart disease. I have recently stopped lipitor because of liver enzymes. I am going back for repeat liver function test now that I am off of lipitor. I was told approximately 5 years ago that I have diabetes. I believe it is from the lipitor.

    Posted on April 18, 2016 at 2:11 pm

  • Sandra says:

    Lipitor caused me severe ear ringing, stiff neck and loss of hearing. As soon as I stopped taking it, my hearing returned. My doctor told me the cause of my hearing loss was because I was getting old and referred me to an audiologist who said I needed hearing aids. All a money making scheme. I have developed curvature of the spine in addition and have been seeing a chiropractor to straighten out my spine and muscles. The ringing has subsided substantially. The ear ringing was equivalent to a heavy metal rock band playing in my head. The doctor told me the good outweighs the bad?? I don’t think so. Working on lowering my cholesterol levels naturally. Don’t depend on doctors to know everything. I have since switched physicians as the doctor never called me back when I asked for help. He is more interested in making the sure money at nursing homes for the unfortunate who have been kept alive by modern medicine.

    Posted on October 23, 2016 at 8:30 am

  • James says:

    I’m pretty sure that this drug killed both of my parents. These assholes are going straight to hell for this product. They hailed it as a miracle drug….bullshit! My mom can hardly speak or even sit up. she lost mobility 3 years ago. She has taken this crap for 18 years and I took her off of it 2 weeks ago and all of a sudden she can talk and sit up and use her hands. Gee …do you think it was the drug?

    Posted on February 23, 2017 at 1:28 am

  • Sally says:

    Lipitor caused me to develop neuropathy!! My quality of life has greatly diminished. I have to use a walker now because my legs are so weak. I wish I had never been put on this drug! but, I put my trust in the doctor’s. I’ve been off Lipitor for 8 years now but I don’t think I will ever bee able to walk again and this leaves me very hopeless nd depressed.

    Posted on May 27, 2017 at 1:56 pm

  • Rita says:

    I.was dignosed with neuropathy diabetes in 2011, I started taking Liptor in 2003.I took Liptor for 8 years, before ,I knew anything about liptor, until suddenly changed my cholesterol medicine to Simvistin. I was told by my Doctor, I will have diabetes the rest of my life.

    Posted on June 27, 2017 at 2:03 pm

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