Lipitor is an incredibly popular drug that is used to treat high cholesterol. This drug, which was developed, manufactured, and marketed by Pfizer, has brought in billions of dollars for the pharmaceutical giant. However, the drug is not exactly safe for everyone to use. Studies have shown that there are some potentially deadly side effects when taking the drug. These side effects were never fully addressed by Pfizer, and they have led to a number of lawsuits being filed.
What is Lipitor?
Lipitor is a statin drug. While it is into the only drug in this class that is currently on the market, it is certainly the most popular. Specially developed to lower LDL cholesterol (the bad form of cholesterol) and simultaneously raise the HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol), this drug shot to immediate success. Until the patent ran out, it brought in billions of dollars for Pfizer.
Liptors Success
In 1985 scientists working for the Parke-Davis Company synthesized the drug. It was not the first statin drug ever created, but it was profoundly superior to anything on the market. Before it found FDA approval in 1996, Pfizer bought Parke-Davis. The patent lasted until 2011 when a generic became available.
During these fifteen years Lipitor rose to become the most successful drug in history. In fact, the year the patent fell off, Pfizer sold nearly $7.5 billion worth of this drug. In one year alone, more Lipitor was sold than most other drugs sell during their entire tenure.
Lipitors Dangers
Despite being popular, Lipitor comes with some very serious side effects. While any drug will have some side effects, such as dizziness, dry mouth, or headaches, these will often dissipate as the body becomes used to the new chemical. But there are some serious side effects that wont go away. In fact, if they are left unchecked, they could become fatal.
Lipitor has been known to cause:
– Kidney Damage
– Liver Damage
– Severe Muscle Damage
– Memory Loss
– Jaundice
Some of these conditions, if they are not caught in time, will persist long after the patient discontinues the drug. To make matters worse, Pfizer never fully warned about some of them. Instead they pushed the drug hoping to make a huge profit while ignoring the fact that they may be causing severe damage to those using the drug.
Contact an Attorney
For those who have taken Lipitor, and have suffered from one of these side effects, there is recourse. If you entered a store and an employee assaulted you, you would demand that the store (or the individual) pay for medical bills incurred. The same is true if you used a drug and that drug caused damage that you were never made aware of. Contact a personal injury attorney in order to be made whole again. There is no need to suffer at the hands of a giant corporation who used you to increase their bottom line.
