A North Carolina man has filed a lawsuit against the makers of his heartburn medication claiming that he suffered from unexpected long term effects of Nexium.

Plaintiff Timothy L. says he began taking Nexium for his heartburn in 2012 and continued to take it until 2013. He was prescribed Nexium by his doctors. However, Timothy claims, had he known about the long term effects of Nexium, including various kidney risks, he would have never taken it.

Timothy’s Nexium lawsuit says that he suffers from acute kidney failure, acute kidney injury and stage five kidney disease. Additionally, he claims, he sustained severe and permanent personal injuries, pain, suffering, economic loss, and emotional distress.

What is Nexium?

Nexium is in a class of drugs called proton pump inhibitors. Proton pump inhibitors, or PPIs, are among the most commonly prescribed medications in the United States. Timothy’s lawsuit claims that in 2013 more than 15 million Americans had a prescription for PPIs.

PPIs are sold by prescription and they are sold over the counter as well.

Nexium is manufacturer AstraZeneca’s largest selling drug and the third largest selling drug in the entire world. AstraZeneca’s sales for Nexium reached $5.7 billion in 2005 alone.

Proton pump inhibitors like Nexium treat various gastrointestinal conditions including gastrointestinal reflux disease (or GERD), dyspepsia, acid peptic disease, Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, acid reflux and stomach ulcers.

Nexium, generically known as esomeprazole magnesium, essentially “shuts down the acid production of the active acid pumps in the stomach thereby reducing hydrochloric acid in the stomach,” according to this Nexium side effects lawsuit. It explains that Nexium “binds with the proton pump which inhibits the ability of the gastric parietal cell to secrete gastric acid.”

Long Term Effects of Nexium

With millions of Americans taking Nexium and other PPIs, there are numerous reports of injuries connected with the use of these drugs. These injury reports include several types of kidney injuries including acute interstitial nephritis (AIN), chronic kidney disease (CKD), renal failure and acute kidney injury (AKI).

Timothy and other, similar patients believe that because of the numerous injury reports, AstraZeneca knew about the dangers and the long term effects of Nexium, yet did not do enough to warn patients, the medical community or the public.

AIN, one of the conditions linked with long term effects of Nexium, is an inflammation of the kidneys. AIN is marked by symptoms such as fatigue, nausea and weakness. As far back as 1992, different studies have linked PPIs with AIN. Recent studies, according to this lawsuit, show that Nexium users are at a three times greater risk than the general population to develop acute interstitial nephritis.

Chronic kidney disease, or CKD, happens when the kidney loses functioning over time. If the kidney is not able to filter waste and extra fluid from the blood, a patient is in a dangerous position to develop kidney failure or other severe conditions.

Because he suffered from these long term effects of Nexium, Timothy has brought claims of defective design, failure to warn and breach of express warranty.

This Nexium Lawsuit is Case No. 2:17-cv-12236-CCC-MF in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, Newark Division.