Benicar (olmesartan medoxomil) is a popular hypertension medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2002. Distributed by Daiichi Sankyo and Forest Laboratories in the United States, it’s used to lower blood pressure, and is effective. While Benicar has been on the market for over a decade, the medical community and the public are just now learning of the link between the drug and chronic diarrhea or other gastrointestinal problems – a link that has been misdiagnosed for years.

It could be months to years before symptoms show from Benicar usage. Due to this, and the FDA warning not being issued until 2013, there was a lack of information available to the public and the medical community about the risk. No information means wrong diagnoses, so patients suffering chronic diarrhea or other symptoms of celiac disease, and their doctors, treated the symptoms. They didn’t know Benicar could be to blame.

Gastrointestinal (GI) issues are the most common symptom of celiac disease. Many celiacs have an allergy to gluten, and they suffer a bevy of side effects, including chronic diarrhea and weight loss. Since the Benicar connection wasn’t made, many patients were wrongly diagnosed and placed on gluten-free diets.

A substance that gives baked goods and wheat products their texture, gluten is in most everything. Going gluten-free can be quite expensive, as other ingredients are more costly than everyday wheat flour. For example, a study published in the Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research in 2008, looked at 56 different gluten-free products, and found that, “on average, gluten-free products are 242 percent more expensive than the regular version of that product.”

For those taking Benicar who were misdiagnosed with celiac disease, going gluten-free didn’t improve their gastrointestinal problems, it only impacted their wallet. If the Benicar link had been known, they could have avoided the costs and challenges by switching to a different blood pressure medication.

Benicar and the Body

Evidence of the connection between Benicar and celiac disease symptoms have been reported in studies and by the FDA. In July 2013, the FDA issued the first public warning about the GI risks tied to Benicar. Its drug safety notice warned consumers and the medical community about the risk of Benicar causing sprue-like enteropathy, a condition that results in chronic diarrhea, weight loss and permanent gastrointestinal damage.

Benicar users often see their symptoms disappear when they stop taking the medication, and reappear if Benicar is taken again. This is tied to a reaction to olmesartan. However, even if stopping the drug stops the symptoms, many long-term patients may be left suffering villous atrophy. Villous atrophy is defined as “a deterioration or decay of the villa in the intestinal tract, preventing the absorption of nutrients and reduce digestive capabilities. This typically results in chronic dehydration, malnutrition, a weakened ability to fight off other illness and electrolyte problems.”

Since the new-found awareness of the association between Benicar and GI symptoms, it’s been estimated by the Celiac Disease Center that up to 22 percent of all prior cases of unclassified sprue may be due to the medication. Victims of those cases, and others who suffered from the blood pressure drug have started filing Benicar lawsuits as they realize the source of their health problems. The plaintiffs say drug manufacturers failed to provide adequate warnings of Benicar’s risks, and had they been aware of the symptoms to look out for, they could have avoided the long-term gastrointestinal damage they are now dealing with.