Allen Williamson began taking the popular medication Benicar to help him manage his high blood pressure. Although he was taking the recommended dosage of Benicar, Mr. Williamson began experiencing severe side effects.
Shortly after he began taking the drug, Mr. Williamson developed gastrointestinal issues including colonic disease, intestinal malabsorption, and several types of colitis.
As a result of his gastrointestinal issues, Mr. Williamson suffered from chronic diarrhea, rapid weight loss, nausea, vomiting, malnutrition, dehydration, and acute renal failure. Mr. Williamson required hospitalization to address these life-threatening injuries.
Mr. Williamson and his wife are now suing Benicar’s manufacturer, Daiichi Sankyo, alleging the company failed to warn doctors and patients of the risks associated with taking the drug.
The Kentucky couple isn’t the only one trying to hold Daiichi Sankyo accountable for dangerous Benicar side effects. They join more than 1,000 additional pharmaceutical lawsuits, the first of which are scheduled to go to trial in mid-2017.
What Is Benicar?
Benicar is a prescription medication used for the treatment of high blood pressure and heart failure. The drug works by relaxing blood vessels so that blood can be moved throughout the body with less effort. Since its approval by the FDA in 1995, Daiichi Sankyo has aggressively marketed the drug both to doctors and patients.
In 2013, the FDA found the statements Daiichi Sankyo was using in its advertisements were misleading. In a warning letter sent to the company, the FDA said statistics used in Benicar advertisements are from an “open-label, uncontrolled trial, which due to lack of placebo control or blinding, does not provide substantial evidence or substantial clinical experience to support the efficacy claims and presentations above.”
Benicar has been shown to cause a condition called sprue-like enteropathy in some patients. Sprue-like enteropathy is marked by intestinal problems including severe diarrhea, which can cause severe weight loss, malnutrition, and infections. Plaintiffs in the Benicar litigation also report that several people have died of complications resulting from Benicar’s side effects.