More than two dozen plaintiffs who have filed Benicar lawsuits against Tokyo-based Daiichi Sankyo are anxiously awaiting a court’s decision concerning whether the pretrial proceedings will be centralized.

Benicar lawsuit plaintiffs have alleged a failure by the drug maker to adequately research the popular high blood pressure medication’s side effects, as well as a failure to provide sufficient warnings to patients and healthcare providers about the risk of developing chronic diarrhea and other symptoms of a condition known as sprue-like enteropathy while on Benicar (olmesartan).

Benicar’s other reported side effects include eye pain and vision problems, chest pain, shortness of breath, fever, swelling, sudden weight gain, decrease in urination, jaundice, dry mouth, drowsiness, confusion, and seizures.

According to several Benicar lawsuits, plaintiffs claim that, had they known of the increased risk of sprue-like enteropathy, they could have opted not to take Benicar and thus avoided the unnecessary pain, suffering, permanent and severe intestinal damage, and colonic injuries.

Daiichi Sankyo is also a defendant in a host of other Benicar lawsuits filed by people initially diagnosed with celiac disease before figuring out Benicar was the source of their alleged gastrointestinal problems. Symptoms of sprue-like enteropathy closely mirror celiac disease, also known as severe intolerance to gluten. Common symptoms include severe and/or chronic diarrhea, substantial weight loss, and an electrolyte imbalance.

Plaintiffs of these Benicar lawsuits are seeking compensation for medical bills, pain and suffering, and sometimes permanent injuries to their intestines allegedly caused by the blood pressure medication.

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation was scheduled to hear oral arguments on March 26 of this year. A decision will be rendered sometime afterward.

Centralizing all of the Benicar diarrhea lawsuits into one Benicar MDL before one judge reduces duplicative discovery, avoids conflicting rulings, and serves the convenience of the parties, witnesses and the court, according to a motion filed in the federal court system by the plaintiffs’ attorneys.

FDA Warning Against Benciar Side Effects

In 2013, the FDA ordered Daiichi Sankyo to add a warning label about sprue-like enteropathy side effects, which were characterized as “life-threatening.” In one particular Benicar study, researchers found more than half of the patients stricken with Benicar sprue-like enteropahty required hospitalization for extreme weight loss caused by the side effects of Benicar diarrhea.

The FDA warning came a year after the Mayo Clinic published the results of a Benicar side effects study, which concluded Benicar was linked to sprue-like enteropathy.

Doctors write more than 11 million prescriptions annually for Benicar, making it the most widely prescribed blood pressure medication in the country.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 67 million American adults, or one in every three adults, suffer from high blood pressure (or hypertension). Children can also develop this disease.

High blood pressure greatly increases the risk for heart disease and stroke, the first and third leading causes of death in the United States, according to the CDC.

“In 2010, high blood pressure was projected to cost the United States $93.5 billion in health care services, medications, and missed days of work,” the CDC reports.

Benicar was intended to make patients’ lives easier as a high blood pressure treatment. However, according to various studies and Benicar lawsuits, it appears that this drug has allegedly burdened many consumers with gastrointestinal problems instead.