Utah plaintiff Martha B. is suing Japanese pharmaceutical company Daiichi Sankyo for allegedly causing her to suffer chronic intestinal problems resulting from her use of the hypertension medication Benicar. Martha claims that as a direct result of using Benicar, she suffered sprue-like enteropathy and other personal injuries.

Like millions of Americans, Martha was prescribed Benicar after being diagnosed with hypertension and high blood pressure. Ideally, Benicar would have allowed Martha to live a healthier lifestyle and would have lowered her chances of heart disease or cardiac attack. Instead, she suffered from numerous painful Benicar side effects such as chronic diarrhea, dehydration, and sprue-like enteropathy.

According to Martha’s doctors, the serious gastrointestinal injuries she suffered while using Benicar are similar to colonic disease. Her maladies, including chronic diarrhea, acute renal failure, severe anemia, weakness, nausea, and severe weight loss, all of which eventually led to hospitalization. Martha requires ongoing medical monitoring to check on her weight, hydration levels, and general health.

After learning that she had been prescribed Benicar shortly before her symptoms started, medical professionals agreed that Benicar was most likely a contributing factor for Martha’s condition.

After learning that many other Benicar patients suffered similar side effects and also received no warnings, Martha filed suit against Daiichi Sankyo. Martha’s Benicar lawsuit alleges that Daiichi Sankyo did not undertake necessary drug safety studies, did not include warnings on the drug’s label, and generally made no effort to warn users or the medical community of possible gastrointestinal side effects.

Martha claims that she never would have taken Benicar if she had known about the risks of intestinal damage and sprue-like enteropathy.

For being allegedly responsible for manufacturing, selling, distributing, and marketing of a dangerous drug, Martha is suing Daiichi Sankyo and Forrest Laboratories, Daiichi’s U.S. partner. The charges include negligence, false advertising, concealing information, and misrepresenting a product.

This Benicar Lawsuit is In Re: Benicar (Olmesartan) Products Liability Litigation, Case No. 1:15-MD-2606, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, Camden District.

Overview of Benicar Complications

When Benicar was released in the early 2000s, it quickly became one of the most popular treatments for high blood pressure. The drug’s popularity was partly due to its efficiency and quick treatment mechanism. However, experts also believe that the popularity was at least partly due to the aggressive marketing campaign that was launched between 2002 and 2008, which focused on selling Benicar directly to doctors. The company reportedly spent $1 billion in promotional expenses during this campaign, which relied heavily on face-to-face meetings with physicians, physician meeting events, and providing clinical samples.

Daiichi Sankyo advertised Benicar as a superior product compared to other hypertension medications, despite having no clinical data to support the claims. In 2006, the FDA found Benicar’s efficiency and safety claims to be misleading and inaccurate. The agency stated that there was no evidence proving Benicar was any better or safer than other hypertension drugs.

In fact, Benicar has recently come under fire for allegedly causing severe and painful side effects. Numerous patients have reported suffering chronic complications relating to intestinal damage, along with severe malnutrition and dehydration. Most commonly, patients have reported suffering from sprue-like enteropathy and chronic diarrhea soon after starting Benicar. In the most severe cases, some have developed chronic gastrointestinal conditions like villous atrophy.

A number of these former Benicar patients have decided to take legal action against Daiichi Sankyo for failing to protect them against serious Benicar side effects.