A recent Benicar lawsuit joins the consolidated federal litigation against Daiichi Sankyo Pharmaceuticals and Forest Laboratories, alleging the blood-pressure drug causes serious gastrointestinal injuries.

Plaintiff Bonny F., an Ohio resident, was prescribed Benicar to treat her high blood pressure. Bonny alleges that Benicar side effects caused her to develop serious intestinal injuries, including sprue-like enteropathy and chronic diarrhea.

According to the complaint, Bonny incurred substantial medical expenses as a result of her Benicar injuries and her husband also joins the lawsuit bringing loss of consortium (loss of spousal intimacy) claims.

The Benicar lawsuit further alleges that Daiichi Sankyo knew or should have known about the risk of dangerous side effects, but failed to disclose the risk until after independent studies were released and the FDA issued a warning in 2013.

What is Benicar?

Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. developed the popular prescription medication Benicar to treat high blood pressure. The FDA approved the drug for commercial sale in April 2002. Since then, it has become the most widely prescribed blood pressure medication in the country.

Benicar is designed to block angiotension II, allowing a patient’s blood vessels to expand, reducing blood pressure. However, there have been serious injuries associated with the drug.

Some patients who took the hypertension drug report developing serious Benicar side effects such as chronic diarrhea, sprue-like enteropathy or villous atrophy for which many patients were hospitalized or misdiagnosed with Celiac disease.

In July 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a drug safety communication warning consumers and the medical community for the first time about the connection between Benicar and sprue-like enteropathy.

Benicar Multidistrict Litigation

Over 1,000 Benicar lawsuits have recently been centralized in a multidistrict litigation. Just a few months ago, when the U.S. Panel on Multidistrict Litigation agreed to consolidate these lawsuits into a multidistrict litigation for pretrial proceedings, there were roughly 35 lawsuits filed against Daiichi Sankyo. Since the MDL was announced, however, the number of Benicar lawsuits added to the action has grown to 1,034 as of September 2015, according to court documents.

Additionally, coordinated discovery is underway in the Benicar MDL which will likely be followed by a series of bellwether trials. Bellwether trials are a small number of cases selected to represent a greater number of claims in an MDL.

Attorneys can often use bellwether trials to learn about potential jury responses to witnesses and evidence which will be used in other cases. Additionally, results from bellwether trials are sometimes helpful in reaching settlement agreements before remaining claims in an MDL go before a jury.

Benicar Lawsuits

Many patients were misdiagnosed with celiac disease because gastrointestinal Benicar side effects were not made known, according to complaints, so patient suffering was prolonged and, in some cases, led to permanent intestinal damage.

If you or someone you love was diagnosed with symptoms similar to Celiac disease or sprue-like enteropathy after using Benicar, you may be eligible to join a Benicar lawsuit to obtain compensation for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering and other damages.

The Benicar MDL is In Re:  Benicar (Olmesartan) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2606, U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, Camden Vicinage.