Benicar Trials Postponed Until 2017

Santa Clara, CAThe first trial in the Benicar Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) has been postponed until 2017. There are 10 bellwether cases set to go to trial, which were chosen from 30 randomly selected by the court. A further 20 cases from the bellwether plaintiff list have been added.

The first case has not yet been announced and is being prepared, along with the other nine, for trial. The lawsuits allege patients suffered serious Benicar side effects linked to their use of the blood pressure medication. Among the side effects reportedly linked to Benicar is sprue-like enteropathy.

Patients with sprue-like enteropathy experience chronic diarrhea, weight loss and other gastrointestinal problems, including colitis. Symptoms can reportedly take months to years to develop and may require hospitalization. Some patients may have developed sprue-like enteropathy while using Benicar but been diagnosed with celiac disease. The lawsuits consolidated under the MDL allege the Daiichi Sankyo and Forest Laboratories failed to warn users about these medical side effects.

Benicar (known generically as olmesartan) is in a class of drugs known as angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB). According to the FDA, sprue-like enteropathy has not been linked with other ARB medications.