Benicar is a medication widely prescribed to treat high blood pressure. It is manufactured by Daiichi Sankyo and Forest Laboratories. Along with Benicar HCT, Tribenzor, and Azor, Benicar contains Olmesartan, which has been linked to a rare gastrointestinal disorder, spruelike enteropathy. If you required medical care and hospitalization for a serious condition after using Benicar or another dangerous drug, you should consult a product liability attorney. The Benicar lawyers at Moll Law Group provide legal representation to consumers nationwide, and billions of dollars have been recovered in cases in which we were involved.
Symptoms of the disorder include substantial weight loss, malnutrition, vomiting, and severe, chronic diarrhea. It can take up to a year to develop and may require hospitalization. When researchers from the Mayo Clinic discontinued patient use of Benicar, however, the patients' symptoms improved. There have been over 60 reports of this problem. Less well-established side effects include the possibility that Benicar increases the risk of cancer. Those taking Benicar or related drugs containing Olmesartan who have noticed diarrhea or weight loss should consult a doctor.
Patients who accumulate medical bills, lost income, and emotional distress due to severe gastrointestinal conditions after taking Benicar or related drugs may be able to bring a product liability lawsuit to hold the manufacturer accountable. Product liability actions help to ensure the safety and reliability of pharmaceuticals, and some manufacturers fix a defective product or remove it from the market, thereby stopping others from suffering injuries. Probably the strongest argument that Benicar lawyers make is that the manufacturers knew or should have known about the risk of severe gastrointestinal side effects and failed to warn patients.
A failure to warn is a marketing defect for which a manufacturer may be held strictly liable. Typically, warning labels must be clear and easy to understand, explaining all the dangers and risks that the use of a particular product carries. However, in most jurisdictions, pharmaceutical manufacturers are expected to provide warnings to doctors, who are considered to be in a better position to judge whether a patient is a good candidate for a pharmaceutical than the manufacturer. A pharmaceutical company complies with its duty to warn by warning doctors, and if a doctor fails to pass along the warning to the patient and a serious injury results, it may be appropriate to sue the doctor for malpractice.
In a failure to warn lawsuit, a plaintiff will need to show that the manufacturer knew or should have known about the risks posed by its product, and that it should have offered a warning but failed to do so. In some jurisdictions, a failure to warn is treated as a subcategory of negligence.
In some product liability lawsuits, defendants may try to claim ignorance about a particular danger, especially if a plaintiff misused the product or used it in a way that was not foreseeable. However, with pharmaceuticals, this defense is usually not strong. Drug manufacturers are supposed to keep up with the current research associated with their products, and ignorance is not a good excuse for failing to warn physicians and consumers about serious health risks or side effects.
If you were harmed due to your use of Benicar, our product liability lawyers are available to guide you in seeking compensatory damages, including lost income, medical expenses, mental anguish, and pain and suffering. Moll Law Group represents injured consumers in states around the nation, such as California, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Call us at 312-462-1700 or use our online form to schedule a free consultation with a Benicar attorney.