Daiichi Sankyo is being hit with a new Benicar lawsuit  filed by a West Virginia woman who was seeking treatment for hypertension.

The patient claims that as a direct result of the Benicar medication she was prescribed, she suffered a variety of gastrointestinal damages and developed villous atrophy.

Plaintiff Diane W. began using Benicar in 2005, opting for the medication for its treatment mechanism against high blood pressure.

The drug’s active ingredient, olmesartan, signals the blood vessel in the body to widen and ultimately lowers blood pressure. Benicar medication can be taken alone or in combination with other drugs, giving a variety of options to patients.

Soaring in popularity since its release in 2002, physicians reportedly write over 11 million Benicar prescriptions per year. Unfortunately a number of patients have reported suffering severe problems after taking the medication, with many of them being associated to nutritional deficiency and sprue-like enteropathy.

Diane suffered similar symptoms from her prescription on the Benicar medication, with her lawsuit indicating the development of villous atrophy. This gastrointestinal condition causes the patient’s intestine to be unable to properly absorb nutrition from food.

Benicar Side Effects

Despite the popularity of the Benicar medication, the concerns of sprue-like enteropathy and permanent gastrointestinal damage have become prevalent concerns of the medical community.

In April 2014, the FDA stated that Benicar’s warning label needed to be updated to include the risks of gastrointestinal side effects. This warning came after the Mayo Clinic notified the agency in 2012 regarding a Benicar study they conducted between 2008 to 2011.

This study had recorded 22 patients who suffered symptoms associated with Celiac disease, but had tested negative for the condition. It was noted that each of the patients had been prescribed Benicar and had suffered from gastrointestinal injuries such as villous atrophy.

Not only did the Mayo Clinic conclude that Benicar could cause potential gastrointestinal damage, they also found that no other medication in the same drug class caused these problems.

After receiving notice from the Mayo Clinic, the FDA added the information to Benicar’s prescription information in July 2013. The updated warning label in 2014 followed shortly after. Since the warnings, numerous patients have been filing Benicar lawsuits against Daiichi Sankyo.

Patients who believe they may have a Benicar lawsuit may be eligible to file their own lawsuit or join a multidistrict litigation (MDL) against Daiichi Sankyo. Diane is joining a set of similar Benicar claims, alleging that the company failed to protect them against the dangers of their product.

The Benicar Lawsuit is Case No. 1:2015cv08730 and is part of the Benicar MDL In re: Benicar (Olmesartan) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2606, in the U. S. District of New Jersey, Camden Vicinage.