Benicar (olmesartan) is a widely used hypertension medication prescribed to treat high blood pressure. Millions of people are written Benicar prescriptions each year. However, new research has linked the Benicar side effects to gastrointestinal problems, including celiac disease-like issues.

The latest alleged victim of these side effects is New Jersey plaintiff Christy Brooks. Brooks filed a Benicar lawsuit against Daiichi Sankyo and Forest Laboratories, the manufacturers of Benicar.

She was prescribed Benicar in 2005, and claims that the Benicar side effects caused her to develop a medical condition known as “sprue-like enteropathy.” This expressed in her as chronic diarrhea, several forms of colitis, weight loss, nausea, and vomiting, which in turn led to malnutrition and dehydration, she claims in her Benicar lawsuit.

This caused Brooks to endure many years of suffering.

Enteropathy, which can result in chronic diarrhea, weight loss, colitis and other severe gastrointestinal problems, is a common complaint of individuals who are part of the ever-growing group of plaintiffs filing against Benicar’s drug makers, alleging the companies knew of the risks but withheld the information.

Brooks says in her Benicar lawsuit that did not know of the tie between her medication and GI health issues, and neither did her doctor.

Benicar complications can develop over months and years, so without knowledge of this possibility, physicians have to treat their patients blindly.

Over the course of Brooks’ ailment, she underwent a number of treatments that were unsuccessful and did not assuage her issues.

Brooks is charging Benicar’s makers with failing to warn the public about the potential Benicar side effects, asserting that the companies were more interested in profit than safety.

The New Jersey woman is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. The Benicar lawsuit alleges defective design, failure to warn, strict liability, breach of warranty, negligence and negligent misrepresentation, fraud, and violation of consumer protection laws.

Hypertension – A Hard Pill to Swallow?

Brooks’ Benicar lawsuit states that “the U.S. market for hypertension treatment is massive. Approximately 73 million people in the United States age 20 and older have hypertension, about 61 percent of which (or 45 million) are under treatment.”

Benicar is just one of numerous treatments out there. Benicar has been on the market for more than 10 years, but the first reports of any connection between it and sprue-like enteropathy did not come to light until July 2012.

Independent researchers published a report in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, looking at patients who were treated for celiac-like symptoms while on the blood-pressure medication. Of the 22 patients in 17 different states they looked at, treatment for the symptoms had no effect, but findings showed that once the patient stopped taking Benicar the symptoms usually cleared up.

Last year, amidst these findings and adverse event reports, the FDA issued warnings about the link between Benicar and its severe side effects.

Prior to this, a good number of Benicar users had been suffering from GI disorders for years, not realizing the issues might be caused by their medication. Patients’ problems were often misdiagnosed as unclassified sprue or celiac disease.

Victims of celiac disease suffer inflammation in the small intestine, and damage in the lining, as well as lack of nutrition absorption, similar to the Benicar side effects.

With misdiagnoses, patients continued taking Benicar. While stopping the medication often resolves the problem the victims say they continued to suffer. The diarrhea symptoms from Benicar, if left untreated, can cause permanent damage to the intestines, (identified as villous atrophy), and a host of other infirmities, including electrolyte imbalance.

In general, Benicar lawsuits are filed individually by each plaintiff and are not class actions.

Do YOU have a legal claim? Fill out the form on this page now for a free, immediate, and confidential case evaluation. The attorneys who work with Top Class Actions will contact you if you qualify to let you know if an individual lawsuit or class action lawsuit is best for you. Hurry — statutes of limitations may apply.

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