A Florida woman and her husband are claiming Benicar linked to dehydration was responsible for her severe gastrointestinal side effects.

Plaintiffs Lilian and John S. are bringing a claim against drug makers Daiichi Sankyo and Forest Laboratories, the companies behind the hypertension drug Benicar.

Lilian alleges she started using Benicar around February 2011. Later, she says, she ended up with severe Benicar side effects including “[g]astrointestinal issues, severe chronic diarrhea, rapid and substantial weight loss, severe malnutrition, and severe dehydration.”

Lilian believes she could have avoided these side effects had Daiichi Sankyo and Forest Laboratories distributed proper warnings about Benicar linked to dehydration, severe diarrhea and weight loss.

John, Lilian’s husband, is bringing a claim for loss of consortium. A loss of consortium claim seeks compensation for the effect of Lilian’s Benicar side effects on their marital relationship.

MDL Plaintiffs Say Benicar Linked to Dehydration

Lilian and John’s Benicar lawsuit is part of a larger mass tort litigation known as a multidistrict litigation, or MDL. Many other claimants like them are suing over side effects they experienced after taking Benicar and other drugs with the same ingredient.

These plaintiffs generally allege that they suffered excessive gastrointestinal side effects beyond what they were led to expect from the information provided by Benicar’s manufacturers.

Benicar is a blood pressure medication that also goes by the generic name olmesartan. The same ingredient is also used in Benicar HCL, Azor and Tribenzor, which combine olmesartan with other cardiovascular drugs. All four of these olmesartan-based drugs are at issue in the current Benicar MDL.

The side effects plaintiffs frequently report are sometimes referred to as sprue-like enteropathy. Symptoms of sprue-like enteropathy tend to resemble those of celiac disease. The characteristic symptoms are severe, chronic diarrhea with accompanying weight loss and dehydration.

Patients with sprue-like enteropathy may also develop villous atrophy, an erosion of the inner lining of the intestines. With that inner lining degraded, the patient’s body may be much less able to absorb nutrients from food and may as a result suffer from malnutrition.

Plaintiffs in the Benicar MDL say that Daiichi Sankyo and Forest Laboratories knew about Benicar linked to dehydration, diarrhea and extreme weight loss. They claim the company neglected to warn patients and doctors despite the existence of clinical studies, aftermarket reports that point to that link.

In July 2013, the FDA issued its own warning on the subject. The agency alerted doctors and patients that it had received a relatively high number of reports about patients developing severe gastrointestinal symptoms after taking olmesartan-based drugs.

In those reports, the FDA noted, patients’ symptoms tend to resolve once they stop taking olmesartan. The agency said it found similar results in clinical case studies from the Mayo Clinic.

The couple’s Benicar Linked to Dehydration Lawsuit is Case No. 1:17-cv-00388 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. The Benicar MDL is In re: Benicar (Olmesartan) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2606, also in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.