Missy Clyne Diaz  |  January 23, 2015

Category: Legal News

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benicarA federal judicial panel has granted the manufacturers of the popular blood pressure drug Benicar additional time to state their position on centralizing more than a dozen Benicar lawsuits before a single judge.

The panel has given Tokyo-based Daiichi Sankyo and Forest Laboratories two additional weeks to respond to the motion for a centralized multidistrict litigation (MDL) for Benicar lawsuits that allege that the blood pressure drug caused users to suffer chronic diarrhea and other gastrointestinal problems, including a condition known as sprue-like enteropathy.

On Christmas Eve, Daiichi Sankyo and Forest Laboratories filed a request for more time to prepare their response to the proposed Benicar MDL. The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JMPL) considered their request and four days later granted the companies an extension until Jan. 23.

Plaintiffs in Benicar lawsuits accuse the drug makers of failing to warn consumers of painful and chronic Benicar side effects, which include symptoms such as microscopic colitis, or collagenous colitis, manifesting as chronic diarrhea, severe weight loss, nausea, vomiting, malnutrition, and dehydration.

Patients claim they required extended hospital stays for sprue-like enteropathy—symptoms that include severe, chronic diarrhea with substantial weight loss—and related GI issues. Benicar studies have shown that Benicar GI symptoms can begin months or even years after taking the medication.

Symptoms of sprue-like enteropathy closely mirror celiac disease, which is an intolerance to gluten. Common Benicar sprue-like enteropathy symptoms include severe and/or chronic diarrhea, substantial weight loss, and an electrolyte imbalance.

Other side effects of Benicar include eye pain and vision problems, chest pain, shortness of breath, fever, swelling, sudden weight gain, decrease in urination, jaundice, dry mouth, drowsiness, confusion, and seizures

History of Benicar and Sprue-like Enteropathy Side Effects

Each year, doctors write more than 11 million prescriptions for the hypertension medication, making it the most widely prescribed blood pressure medication in the United States. Benicar was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in April 2002 as a safe and effective treatment for hypertension conditions.

Many of the plaintiffs of the filed Benicar lawsuits were first diagnosed with celiac disease before discovering Benicar may have been the cause of their GI problem. Plaintiffs are asking for compensation for medical bills, pain and suffering, and sometimes permanent injuries to their intestines.

In 2012, the Mayo Clinic published an article finding a nexus between Benicar and sprue-like enteropathy. The Benicar study led to the FDA’s July 2013 decision to require that the label warns patients about the risk of severe sprue-like enteropathy caused by olmesartan, an ingredient in Benicar, Benicar HCT, Azor, Tribenzor, and generic versions of the blood pressure medication

The Benicar side effects were characterized as “life-threatening,” in that more than half of the patients required hospitalization for extreme weight loss caused by the side effects of Benicar and diarrhea.

A study published in the October 2014 Journal of Clinical Pathology found that up to 50 percent of Benicar patients suffered sprue-like enteropathy when compared with about 20 percent of patients who used other blood-pressure lowering medications.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 67 million American adults—one in every three adults—suffer from high blood pressure, also known as hypertension. Children can also develop this high blood pressure condition.

Had patients known of the risk of developing chronic diarrhea and other symptoms of sprue-like enteropathy, they could have opted not to take the drug and suffer unnecessary pain and suffering as well as permanent intestinal damage, according to the Benicar lawsuits.

Do YOU have a legal claim? Fill out the form on this page now for a free, immediate, and confidential case evaluation. The attorneys who work with Top Class Actions will contact you if you qualify to let you know if an individual lawsuit or Benicar class action lawsuit is best for you. [In general, Benicar lawsuits are filed individually by each plaintiff and are not class actions.] Hurry — statutes of limitations may apply.

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