Did Pfizer fail to warn the public that Lipitor may cause Type 2 diabetes or memory loss?
A fast-growing number of lawsuits have been filed by women who allege the drug maker knew about the possibility of such serious side effects associated with its blockbuster cholesterol-lowering pill, but never properly warned the public, according to Reuters.
In the past five months, the news service reviewed federal court filings that show lawsuits by women in the U.S., who say that Lipitor caused them to develop type-2 diabetes, jumped from 56 to almost 1,000. One attorney says the actual number of women represented in these lawsuits numbers approximately 4,000.
The filings began picking up two years ago, after the FDA warned that Lipitor and other statins were linked to incidents of memory loss and a “small increased risk” of diabetes. According to lawyers representing plaintiffs, women face a higher risk than men of developing diabetes from using Lipitor, and gain fewer benefits, Reuters writes.
The recent spike in lawsuits followed a decision by a federal judicial panel to consolidate all Lipitor diabetes lawsuits from around the country into a single federal courtroom in Charleston, S.C. Pfizer opposed the consolidation, arguing it would prompt copycat filings. The first case is scheduled to be tried next July.
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