Two Kentucky residents recently add their claim to a widespread Benicar lawsuit multidistrict litigation against Daiichi Sankyo, claiming the drug led to serious GI side effects.

Plaintiffs Lender and Alexander H. allege in the Benicar lawsuit that Alexander experienced serious side effects after taking Benicar, a medication prescribed to treat high blood pressure or hypertension.

Alexander began taking Benicar at the direction of his doctor in 2008. The Benicar lawsuit alleges that, as a direct result of taking Benicar, Alexander suffered from numerous gastrointestinal or GI side effects, including:

• Villous atrophy
• Sprue-like enteropathy
• Colitis
• Kidney failure
• Malabsorption
• Malnutrition
• Dehydration
• Atrophy
• Diarrhea
• Vomiting/Nausea
• Abdominal pain

This Benicar lawsuit was filed on sixteen separate counts, including defective design, failure to warn, negligence, fraud, breach of express and implied warranties, and loss of consortium and has been added to the consolidated multidistrict litigation (MDL) in New Jersey federal court.

About Benicar

Benicar (olmesartan medoxomil) is a widely used hypertension drug manufactured by Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. It was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat hypertension in 2002.

Benicar is just one of a number of olmesartan medications that have made their way into the pharmaceutical market in recent years. Other olmesartan drugs, similar to Benicar, include Benicar HCT, Tribenzor, and Azor.

These olmesartan drugs rose in popularity very quickly after their initial release. Indeed, by 2012, almost 2 million individual people were filling olmesartan prescriptions each year.

Benicar GI Side Effects

Despite the popularity of olmesartan drugs, Benicar has been linked in complaints and lawsuits with a number of Benicar GI side effects ranging from mild to severe.

The FDA has responded to the growing number of complaints about Benicar and similar olmesartan drugs. The federal agency released a drug warning on July 3, 2013, warning bout Benicar’s association with GI side effects like chronic diarrhea, severe weight loss and possible kidney failure.

At this time, the FDA also approved an updated warning label that would include these side effects.

Benicar lawsuits like this one allege that Daiichi Sankyo either knew or should have known about the potentially serious side effects of their drug. However, the company failed to adequately warn the public and the medical community about these problems.

Some Benicar lawsuits even go so far as to allege that Daiichi Sankyo may be actively misleading their customers, including the public and the medical community, about the safety and efficacy of Benicar.

Instead of warning about the risks, the company continues to market Benicar as completely safe and effective, lawsuits claim.

Plaintiffs allege that, had they been adequately warned about the possibility of these Benicar side effects, they would have chosen a safer alternative.

Filing a Benicar Lawsuit

Filing a Benicar lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering of these side effects, but it can help to compensate for the financial expenses or lost wages often incurred by these problems.

If you or someone you love has taken an olmesartan product like Benicar and has since suffered from side effects as a result, you may be able to file a Benicar lawsuit against Daiichi Sankyo.

The Benicar Lawsuit is filed within In Re: Benicar (Olmesartan) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2606, in the U.S. District Court for the Camden Vicinage of the District of New Jersey.