Lipitor Lawsuits: 2025 Settlements, Diabetes Claims & Side Effects

Lipitor has helped many patients manage their cholesterol, but it’s also caused health concerns and been at the center of lawsuits.

People have sued Pfizer for financial and medical losses related to restrictions on generic manufacturing and diabetes concerns. Lawsuits date back as early as 2012 and are ongoing.

Find out if you’re eligible for a lawsuit and how to file a claim.

Lipitor (atorvastatin), manufactured by Pfizer Inc, is a type of prescription medication called a statin. This class of drugs helps lower cholesterol. Lipitor decreases fats and bad cholesterol in the blood while increasing good cholesterol (HDL). This helps reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke.

Lipitor blocks HMG-CoA reductase. This is a liver enzyme your body needs to produce low-density lipoproteins (LDL), or bad cholesterol.

By lowering the amount of LDL in your blood, Lipitor prevents atherosclerosis, a condition where plaque deposits accumulate on the inner walls of your arteries, causing them to stiffen and narrow. In turn, this reduces your risk of heart attack, stroke, chest pain and aneurysms.

Your doctor may recommend pairing Lipitor with a healthy diet and regular exercise to help improve your cholesterol levels.

Lipitor can be used in adults and children who are at least 10 years old.

How To Take Lipitor

Lipitor is available as a tablet that you take orally at the same time daily. It’s available in 10, 20, 40 and 80 mg doses.

You shouldn’t take Lipitor with grapefruit juice, as this can increase your chances of side effects.

If you miss a dose, take it as soon as possible, unless it’s almost time for your next dose. In that case, just take your next dose. Don’t double up on doses.

Like any drug, Lipitor has side effects. Some are common, while others are rare but serious.

Call a doctor if you experience serious side effects that last for more than a couple of days.

Research published in BMJ found that patients treated with atorvastatin had a higher chance of developing diabetes than those treated with another cholesterol drug called pravastatin. Another study in the BMJ found that statin-associated diabetes is more common in women than men.

Frontiers in Endocrinology published a review that found patients taking high-potency statins like atorvastatin had a 34% higher chance of developing Type 2 diabetes.

Additionally, a study in Cardiovascular Diabetology discovered that statin use was linked to an increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. This risk was particularly elevated for atorvastatin users.

People sued Pfizer because of health risks associated with the drug and delayed access to cheaper generic versions of Lipitor.

There are two main types of lawsuits focusing on:

• Diabetes risk: In 2014, diabetes claims relating to Lipitor were consolidated into multidistrict litigation (MDL). This helps streamline the legal process when there are many similar cases. The plaintiffs in these lawsuits claim that Lipitor caused them to develop diabetes and that Pfizer knew or should have known about this risk but failed to warn doctors and patients.
• Delayed generics: Pfizer entered into a pay-for-delay deal with Ranbaxy, the generic producer of Lipitor, which kept cheap atorvastatin off shelves for 20 months. An antitrust lawsuit filed in West Virginia addressed this scheme and resulted in a combined payout of $17 million from Pfizer and Ranbaxy.

People who have been impacted by either diabetes health risks of Lipitor or financial hardships may still be able to file a claim, but check with a lawyer to see if the statute of limitations has passed for your specific situation.

People Who Filed Lipitor Lawsuits

People who filed lawsuits against Pfizer over allegations that Lipitor caused their diabetes are generally women who had a body mass index within the healthy range, kept a healthy diet, took Lipitor to decrease their risk for heart disease and were subsequently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

The last federal Lipitor lawsuits in multidistrict litigation were dismissed in 2017. As of July 2025, there are no active cases in the MDL. However, settlements are ongoing in the pay-for-delay litigation.

The MDL dismissal closed the big diabetes group case. Only price claims remain open in bulk form. Injury cases may now move forward individually.

Pay-for-delay patent settlements prevent generic manufacturers from releasing cheaper versions of the same drug. Pfizer’s pay-for-delay deal with generic atorvastatin producer, Ranbaxy, was highly lucrative for the Lipitor manufacturer. Unfortunately, the deal cost consumers almost $1 billion.

Economic Impact of Pay-For-Delay Deals

For any medication, including Lipitor, pay-for-delay deals can hurt consumers’ wallets. The Federal Trade Commission says that these types of deals cost buyers about $3.5 billion each year.

When it comes to Lipitor, a 30-day supply cost about $205 before generics were released. After generics hit the shelves, the cost fell to around $18.

AARP found that Pfizer raised Lipitor’s price by 9.3% in 2010, 17.5% percent in 2011 and 9.9% in 2012 before the patent on Lipitor expired.

Settlements related to the Lipitor pay-for-delay deal aim to compensate consumers for part of this additional cost.

Most lawyers are no longer accepting Lipitor lawsuits, but you can contact an attorney to be sure that you don’t have a case. If you experienced injuries from Lipitor, you might still be eligible to file a claim depending on when you purchased it and where you live.

You may qualify to file an injury claim if you took Lipitor and were later diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

Although the antitrust deadline has passed, you could have filed a financial claim if you:

• Purchased brand-name Lipitor between March 2010 and November 2011
• Live in West Virginia
• Submitted your claim by July 28, 2025

Regardless of the type of claim you want to file, it’s important to start by gathering your records. Save your pharmacy receipts, prescription dates, blood-sugar tests and any doctor’s notes about side effects.

For the antitrust settlement, make sure you submitted your claim form online by July 28, 2025. Injury suits must follow your state’s statute of limitations. Sometimes, this window is only two years.

You should speak with an attorney to learn about the specifics in your state and for your situation. Drugwatch partners with leading national law firms that specialize in dangerous drug and personal injury cases. We can connect you to the best lawyer for your injuries.