A New York woman is suing Daiichi Sankyo for the injuries she suffered after ingesting Benicar. Plaintiff Lois B. claims that as a direct result of using Benicar, she developed sprue-like enteropathy and other intestinal injuries.

Lois was prescribed Benicar to treat her high blood pressure. Even though the medication had reportedly worked well, it came with embarrassing and painful side effects. Despite only using Benicar for a short time, it was not long before the plaintiff started experiencing diarrhea, dehydration, weight loss, and sprue-like enteropathy, according to the Benicar lawsuit. 

It is important to note that the plaintiff’s symptoms may have caused some confusion to her physicians, because they are akin to Celiac disease. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), it had become relatively common for Benicar users to be misdiagnosed with Celiac disease, which resulted in much more severe intestinal damage.

If the plaintiff and other patients had been diagnosed at an earlier time, then proper treatment measures could have been taken and the issues would most likely be resolved, the Benicar lawsuit alleges. The extent of the damage done to the plaintiff is unknown, but she has ceased her Benicar prescription and is recovering from the drug’s symptoms.

It is unknown how much medical care is needed in the future, but it could result in steep medical costs. Lois states that she never would have used Benicar if she had known about the possible Benicar side effects she had suffered.

She claims that these symptoms were not adequately mentioned on Benicar’s label, and that the defendant made no effort to provide valid research. Furthermore, the Benicar lawsuit states that Daiichi Sankyo had the responsibility to warn its clients and other Benicar patients of their drug’s side effects, because they rely on the given information.

So for being allegedly responsible for manufacturing, selling, distributing, and marketing a dangerous drug, Lois is suing Daiichi Sankyo. The charges include: negligence, false advertising, concealing information, and misrepresenting a product.

This Benicar Lawsuit is Case No. 1:15-cv-00605-JGK, in the U.S. District of Southern New York.

Overview of Benicar Side Effects

Benicar was first approved by the FDA in 2002 to treat high blood pressure in adult patients. Since its release, it has accumulated millions of prescribers that hope to use it to prevent heart attacks, as well as other ill effects. Unfortunately, it has been discovered that Benicar can cause severe gastrointestinal side effects that can be fatal if left untreated.

Among the most common Benicar side effects reported are sprue-like enteropathy, diarrhea, dehydration, and weight loss. In more severe cases, patients alleged that their digestive tract was permanently compromised due to Benicar side effects.

One such condition is villous atrophy, which prevents the small intestine from absorbing nutrition. This causes severe malnutrition and substantial weight loss, and can be potentially fatal to patients.

According to medical experts, Benicar side effects are almost identical to Celiac disease, which has led to a string of misdiagnoses. This problem became so apparent that the FDA ordered Daiichi Sankyo to update Benicar’s label to include the possibility of intestinal damage. The FDA gave a public warning regarding Benicar side effects in July 2013, after the agency reviewed collected data collected by the Mayo Clinic in 2012.

The FDA had discovered a large number of previous Benicar users had suffered severe diarrhea and weight loss after using the medication, with some patients even reporting intestinal damage.

Since the warning has been announced, a number of current and former Benicar users have filed Benicar lawsuits against Daiichi Sankyo for failing to warn them against Benicar side effects.