New Order Issued, Paving the Way for Federal Lipitor Litigation in South Carolina, Reports Baron and Budd
ST. LOUIS, MO (PRWEB) June 23, 2014 -- The national law firm of Baron and Budd reports that the federal judge presiding over lawsuits involving the cholesterol drug Lipitor issued a Case Management Order on June 2, 2014. As a result, the process of filing new cases in the multidistrict litigation (MDL) will be streamlined. (In re Lipitor (Atorvastatin) Litigation, MDL No. 2502)
In issuing the order, U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel approved the use of a Short Form Complaint and a Master Complaint in order to standardize the process of filing additional Lipitor lawsuits directly into the MDL. The Master Complaint outlines all of the allegations raised by plaintiffs in the cases. Any future federal lawsuits filed by Lipitor plaintiffs will be initiated through the use of a short form complaint. According to the order, all short form complaints must be filed over the next 90 days. (http://www.scd.uscourts.gov/mdlipitor/orders/CMO8.pdf)
Pfizer, the manufacturer of Lipitor, is facing more than 700 lawsuits filed by plaintiffs that are pending in the U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina. The plaintiffs allege they developed Type 2 diabetes after using Lipitor. The plaintiffs claim that Pfizer did not provide adequate warnings that women were at risk of developing the disease. They allege that the company either knew or should have known about the potential link between Lipitor and Type 2 diabetes, yet withheld information from both the medical community and consumers. They did this, the suits allege, while turning the drug into one of the most popular drugs in the United States.
In 2012, the Archives of Internal Medicine published a study that stated women aged 50-70 were 50 percent more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than women the same age who did not use Lipitor. Other problems linked to Lipitor use include liver issues, kidney failure and jaundice.
(http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1108676)
“We believe that Pfizer was aware of the risk of diabetes and yet did nothing to protect the people who trusted this company to provide a safe and effective drug,” said Thomas Sims, attorney at the national law firm of Baron and Budd. “Our legal team will do everything in our power to help patients who have been harmed by Lipitor use.”
Please contact the national law firm of Baron and Budd if you or someone you know has been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes after using Lipitor. Call us at 866-472-9108 or visit our website at http://baronandbudd.com/areas-of-practice/pharmaceuticals/lipitor-lawsuit/ to learn how we may be able to help.
ABOUT BARON & BUDD, P.C.
The attorneys at Baron and Budd have been Protecting What’s Right for consumers for more than 35 years. Over the years, our national law firm has built a successful track record representing people who have been harmed by corporate wrongdoing. The firm’s pharmaceutical lawyers recently represented over 7,000 patients harmed by using the drug Avandia. Previously, Baron & Budd played a prominent role in litigation related to the diet drug Fen-Phen. As a result, the case settled for an amount valued at more than $1.275 billion (In Re Diet Drugs (Phentermine | Fenfluramine | Dexfenfluramine) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 1203 (E.D. Pa.).
Amanda Billo, Baron & Budd, http://baronandbudd.com, +1 (214) 991-1051, [email protected]
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