An April 2011 study published in Journal of the American College of Cardiology titled “Predictors of new-onset diabetes in patients treated with atorvastatin: results from 3 large randomized clinical trials.” aimed “to examine the incidence and clinical predictors of new-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) within 3 large randomized trials with atorvastatin.” (Atorvastatin is the scientific name for Pfizer’s “Lipitor.”)
The three large Lipitor studies used for data in this study were: the Treating to New Targets study (TNT), the Incremental Decrease in End Points Through Aggressive Lipid Lowering study (IDEAL), and the Stroke Prevention by Aggressive Reduction in Cholesterol Levels (SPARCL) study.
Waters (2011) states, “In the TNT (Treating to New Targets) trial, 351 of 3,798 patients randomized to 80 mg of atorvastatin and 308 of 3,797 randomized to 10 mg developed new-onset T2DM (9.24% vs. 8.11%, adjusted hazard ratio [HR]: 1.10, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.94 to 1.29, p = 0.226).”
This means that people who were used 80mg/day of Lipitor were 10% found to be more likely to develop type-II diabetes than those who used 10mg of Lipitor.
“In the IDEAL (Incremental Decrease in End Points Through Aggressive Lipid Lowering) trial, 239 of 3,737 patients randomized to atorvastatin 80 mg/day and 208 of 3,724 patients randomized to simvastatin 20 mg/day developed new-onset T2DM (6.40% vs. 5.59%, adjusted HR: 1.19, 95% CI: 0.98 to 1.43, p = 0.072).”
This means that the IDEAL study found patients who used 80mg/day of Lipitor were 19% more likely to develop new onset type-II diabetes than people who used 20mg of Zocor per day.
“In the SPARCL (Stroke Prevention by Aggressive Reduction in Cholesterol Levels) trial, new-onset T2DM developed in 166 of 1,905 patients randomized to atorvastatin 80 mg/day and in 115 of 1,898 patients in the placebo group (8.71% vs. 6.06%, adjusted HR: 1.37, 95% CI: 1.08 to 1.75, p = 0.011).”
This last study showed that patients who used Lipitor were 37% more likely to develop diabetes than patients who used a placebo drug. Concluding, Waters et al. (2011) state, “High-dose atorvastatin [(LIPITOR)] treatment compared with placebo in the SPARCL trial is associated with a slightly increased risk of new-onset T2DM.” We can also see from the other two large studies that the more Lipitor used each day, the more likely one is to develop diabetes, and that Lipitor is more likely to cause diabetes than is Zocor.
Since Pfizer has failed time and again to warn users of the risk for diabetes associated with Lipitor, a number of Lipitor lawsuits have been filed across the country. For more information on Lipitor lawsuits or a free, no-obligation Lipitor lawsuit consultation, contact our team of Lipitor lawyers at the information provided below.
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Our Lipitor Lawsuit Information page is a great place to start if you have any questions about Lipitor.