Most consumers are aware that there are positives and negative effects attached to the use of any medication. The key is to stay informed about what risks you may be running when you take drugs.
One example is Lipitor, which an anti-cholesterol drug manufactured by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals and is designed to lower bad levels of cholesterol and help people also lower their risks of suffering a heart attack.
Lipitor was so widely prescribed that at one time it was the biggest-selling drug in the country but the patent has expired and there are now cheaper generics available.
While Lipitor has been of proven benefit to lower cholesterol it can have a disturbing side effect in some patients by causing them to be at higher risk of developing diabetes.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning about this risk in a recent consumer update in which agency officials updated their findings about statin risks:
“Diabetes occurs because of defects in the body’s ability to produce or use insulin—a hormone needed to convert food into energy. If the pancreas doesn’t make enough insulin or if cells do not respond appropriately to insulin, blood sugar levels in the blood get too high, which can lead to serious health problems.
“A small increased risk of raised blood sugar levels and the development of Type 2 diabetes have been reported with the use of statins.
“Clearly we think that the heart benefit of statins outweighs this small increased risk,” says Egan. But what this means for patients taking statins and the health care professionals prescribing them is that blood-sugar levels may need to be assessed after instituting statin therapy,” she says.”
The question that is being asked by some patients who developed diabetes is whether Pfizer issued adequate warnings about the dangerous link to diabetes from Lipitor. This is reflected in a recent lawsuit filed by a West Virginia woman who claims the use of Lipitor caused her to develop diabetes.
According to her lawsuit she had been taking Lipitor for about four years to treat her cholesterol condition when she developed diabetes and horrendous health problems.
Among the conditions she claims to have suffered are loss of vision in both eyes, for which she had to undergo cataract surgery. She is seeking damages against Pfizer for allegations that include a failure to warn consumers about the diabetes risk.
If you are woman that has taken Lipitor and now has diabetes please visit this site to protect your legal rights. http://ilawsuit.com/lipitor/