A $300 million settlement has been reached in the multidistrict Benicar litigation against Daiichi Sankyo Inc. and Forest Laboratories Inc. on claims that the top-selling blood pressure drug caused severe, and sometimes life-threatening, gastrointestinal injuries in users.
The Benicar suit involved blood pressure products containing the active ingredient olmesartan medoxomil, which included Benicar HCT, Azor, and Tribenzor. Benicar users claimed that the pharmaceutical companies designed the drug in a defective manner and failed to warn them of certain significant drug side effects, such as chronic diarrhea, nausea, malnutrition, dehydration, and weight loss. The companies continued to sell and promote their product without an appropriate product warning, the suits alleged.
In 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned that the usage of Benicar could lead to a condition known as sprue-like enteropathy, resulting in severe and chronic diarrhea. Users would experience celiac disease-like symptoms and gastrointestincal conditions that inhibited an individual’s ability to absorb nutrients. The FDA identified 23 serious cases of such enteropathy at the time, and “mandated that the drug’s warning labels be changed to include the condition,” noted Law360.
As Law360 further noted, the Benicar settlement covers approximately 2,300 injury cases filed in both state and federal courts, “concluding more than two years of litigation that played out before Judge Kugler and U.S. Magistrate Judge Joel Schneider in federal court and Judge Nelson C. Johnson in state court.”
The case is In Re: Benicar (Olmesartan) Products Liability Litigation, case number 2606, in the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.
Contact a National Benicar Injury Lawyer
Patients yet to file claims must have a retainer agreement in place with an attorney by August 23, 2017 to be eligible to receive a recovery under the settlement fund. If you or a family member have suffered serious complications after being prescribed Benicar, Benicar HCT, Tribenzor or Azor, please contact a Benicar lawyer at Lieff Cabraser for a free and prompt evaluation of your case, with no obligation on your part. Or call Lieff Cabraser attorney Lexi Hazam toll-free at 1 (800) 541-7358.
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