A Georgia man has joined the Benicar multidistrict litigation with a claim that Benicar caused renal failure.

Plaintiff Thomas A. says he started taking Benicar on or before 2005.

He alleges that because of the Benicar he took, he developed acute renal failure and a slew of gastrointestinal symptoms like abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting. He also says he had to have his gallbladder removed.

Thomas’s Benicar lawsuit names defendants Daiichi Sankyo and Forest Laboratories, both of whom were involved in the design, manufacture or marketing of Benicar.

He alleges these defendants failed in their duty to warn him that Benicar caused renal failure and gastrointestinal problems.

Benicar Background

Benicar is a medication approved by the FDA in 2002 as a treatment for hypertension.

Its active ingredient olmesartan is also used in combination with other cardiovascular meds to make other brand-name drugs – which are also subject to a wave of Benicar lawsuits similar to Thomas’s.

These other drugs include Benicar HCT, which combines olmesartan with the older medication hydrochlorothiazide; Azor, a combination of olmesartan and amlodipine besylate; and Tribenzor, which combines olmesartan, hydrochlorothiazide, and amlodipine into a single mediation.

Defendant Daiichi Sankyo allegedly refers to these four products as the “Benicar family.”

The Benicar Multidistrict Litigation

Many other claimants like Thomas have filed individual Benicar lawsuits that have been consolidated into a single multidistrict litigation, or MDL, in a single federal court in New Jersey.

Because these claims all involve similar allegations against the same defendants, the federal court system has combined them into a single action so that they can be processed together, in the hopes of conducting pretrial procedures more efficiently.

Plaintiffs: Benicar Caused Renal Failure, Other Symptoms

In addition to Thomas’s claim that Benicar caused renal failure, many claimants in the Benicar MDL allege the drug gave them a condition known as sprue-like enteropathy.

This condition’s signature symptom is chronic diarrhea that is severe enough to lead to extraordinary weight loss.

Sprue-like enteropathy also may occur with a condition known as villous atrophy. In patients with villous atrophy the interior surface of the small intestine is eroded smooth, significantly impairing the body’s ability to absorb nutrients from food.

The FDA recognized the connection between Benicar and sprue-like enteropathy thanks to several reports filed with its adverse event reporting system. In a communication issued in July 2013, the agency reported Benicar appeared to be the cause of this condition.

The agency also required the drug’s manufacturers to add a warning to the labels for the Benicar family, alerting patients to the possibility of developing severe gastrointestinal symptoms while taking Benicar.

Plaintiffs in the Benicar MDL say they were never adequately warned of these dangers before they chose to take olmesartan-based drugs. They accuse the defendant pharmaceutical companies of purposely withholding vital safety information about Benicar to avoid reducing the drug’s sales figures.

Thomas’s Benicar Lawsuit is Case No. 1:16-cv-08712 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. It’s part of the Benicar MDL, In re: Benicar (Olmesartan) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2606, also in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.