Forest Laboratories and Daiichi Sankyo face yet another Benicar lawsuit filed over the potential for side effects of the blood pressure drug to cause chronic diarrhea and other serious problems associated with sprue-like enteropathy. The product liability lawsuit was filed last week by Deborah Dirksen and her husband, Richard, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois, and includes allegations that the Benicar makers failed to provide adequate warnings for consumers and doctors about the risk of enteropathy side effects associated with the hypertension drug. If you took Benicar in the past, and you have since suffered from side effects like chronic diarrhea or sprue-like enteropathy, contact a reputable Benicar attorney today to discuss your legal options.
In her complaint, Dirksen states that she was repeatedly hospitalized due to chronic diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, weight loss, dehydration and malnutrition, yet due to inadequate warnings from Forest Laboratories and Daiichi Sankyo, her doctors were unaware of the alleged link between Benicar use and gastrointestinal side effects like chronic diarrhea. Dirksen claims in her lawsuit that, after being hospitalized for nine days due to severe diarrhea and dehydration, her symptoms returned once she was discharged and began taking Benicar again, as directed by her doctors. She eventually stopped taking Benicar after another several months of doctor visits and treatments, and while her symptoms resolved, she was left with permanent intestinal damage from the chronic diarrhea she suffered while taking Benicar.
Benicar is a popular blood pressure medication that belongs to a class of drugs that all include the active ingredient olmesartan, including Benicar HCT, Tribenzor and Azor. Although Benicar has been on the market in the U.S. for more than 10 years, it was just last year that the first warnings about the risk of sprue-like enteropathy from Benicar treatment were provided by the FDA. In a drug safety communication issued in June 2013, the FDA warned that side effects of the hypertension drug may result in symptoms like chronic diarrhea and other severe gastrointestinal problems that may develop months or even years after Benicar treatment is started. Although the diarrhea symptoms tied to Benicar typically stop once use of the drug is discontinued, the problems can cause permanent damage to the intestines – a condition known as villous atrophy.
Dirksen’s Benicar lawsuit joins a growing number of complaints brought against the makers of the hypertension medication, all of which involve similar allegations that Forest Laboratories and Daiichi Sankyo knew or should have known about the risk of sprue-like enteropathy side effects from Benicar, but failed to provide adequate warnings for patients and the medical community. If you believe you have been harmed by side effects of Benicar, our consumer advocates at the Consumer Justice Foundation can help. We are committed to protecting the rights of consumers harmed by dangerous pharmaceutical drugs, and can help put you in touch with a qualified product liability lawyer who has experience handling Benicar enteropathy claims.
