Daiicho Sankyo is facing another lawsuit over allegations that its blood pressure drug, Benicar, causes serious gastrointestinal side effects including sprue-like enteropathy.

Plaintiff Emma H., a 61-year-old resident of Oklahoma, was prescribed Benicar HCT in 2013 to treat her high blood pressure. Emma claims that she suffered severe Benicar complications as a result of taking the medication.

Her Benicar lawsuit alleges that after taking Benicar, she experienced various gastrointestinal conditions including villous atrophy, sprue-like enteropathy, chronic diarrhea and other related gastrointestinal side effects.

Benicar is a blood pressure medication that blocks certain receptors, known as angiotensin receptors. Angiotensin II is a hormone that causes the blood vessels to constrict.

By inhibiting the action of this hormone (as well as reducing the secretion and production of other hormones involved in regulating blood pressure), blood vessels become dilated.

Drugs of this class generate billions in revenue for their manufacturers. There are a number of angiotensin receptor blockers (ARA-II) on the market, but only Benicar has been implicated in the development of the intestinal disorder known as sprue-like enteropathy.

Often misdiagnosed as celiac disease, sprue-like enteropathy prevents the intestinal system from properly absorbing nutrients from food. In essence, a patient who is not treated for this condition starves to death.

Benicar Sprue-Like Enteropathy Complications and Risks

A recent Mayo Clinic study has linked the development of sprue-like enteropathy to the use of Benicar.

The study involved 22 patients who were using Benicar and experiencing gastrointestinal symptoms, initially diagnosed as Celiac disease.

However, the patients in the study were not responding to a gluten-free diet, a common form of treatment for Celiac disease, and did not have detectable tissue transglutaminase in their blood, which is used to positively diagnose Celiac disease.

Upon discontinuation of Benicar, all 22 patients experienced relief from the gastrointestinal symptoms as well as weight gain. The study concluded that the patients’ use of Benicar was directly linked to the gastrointestinal side effects the patients were experiencing.

Additionally, the FDA warned about the link between Benicar and sprue-like enteropathy in July 2013. The label on Benicar was updated to include risk information about severe symptoms, including diarrhea and weight-loss, which might not appear for months or years after a patient starts Benicar.

In some cases, patients had to be hospitalized. Sprue-like enteropathy has not been linked to other blood pressure drugs in the same class as Benicar.

Benicar Lawsuits

Patients who have been injured as a result of taking Benicar may choose to file personal injury lawsuits against the drug’s manufacturer.

Plaintiffs who have already filed Benicar lawsuits typically claim that the drug’s maker did not sufficiently test the drug and did not include adequate instructions and warnings to apprise patients of the full risks and side effects associated with Benicar use.

Daiichi Sankyo and Forest Laboratories, the maker and distributor of Benicar, were allegedly aware that long-term use of Benicar was likely to cause a host of serious and, in some cases, life-threatening diseases, yet failed to adequately warn physicians and patients of these risks.

The Benicar Sprue-Like Enteropathy Lawsuit joins thousands of other Benicar lawsuits consolidated in the multidistrict litigation known as In Re: Benicar (Olmesartan) Product Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2606 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, Camden Vicinage.