With the goal of finding three cases that could serve as bellwether trials in the Benicar multidistrict litigation, a federal judge pulled together parties whose cases involve such personal injuries as sprue-like enteropathy, chronic diarrhea, and other gastrointestinal damage.

U.S. District Judge Rober Kugler in the District of New Jersey had each side choose nine Benicar lawsuits that had claims typically found in most cases. That 18 would go through the initial discovery process and then get whittled down to six and finally three.

Plaintiffs say they would prefer to see the judge choose cases at random. The defense argues the current process will help prevent either side from gaining an unfair advantage.

Each lawsuit alleges that Benicar manufacturer Daiichi Sankyo and its partner Forest Laboratories failed to sufficiently warn patients against the adverse effects of Benicar.

Patients and doctors were unaware that diarrhea symptoms, which can last for weeks or even months after using Benicar, were related to using the drug. Due to the long-term diarrhea, many patients reportedly experienced long-term gastrointestinal damage, such as villous atrophy. Many users were incorrectly diagnosed with celiac disease.

Consolidation is a common in massive pharmaceutical litigation due to the similar nature of the many claims. By centralizing claims, it conserves legal resources, prevents conflicting rulings from different judges, and prevents duplicate discovery.

A series of bellwether trials are often conducted to help demonstrate how juries will respond to the evidence. Before the lawsuits were centralized, there were over 1,000 Benicar lawsuits in the MDL.

The outcomes of the bellwether trials will not be binding on other Benicar claims, it could help both sides to determine whether they would settle the cases. If a settlement is not reached before the bellwether trial process ends, then the Benicar lawsuits will be refiled in their original districts.