Dr. Greg Vigna is a rehabilitation physician and bad drugs lawyer who has treated patients suffering from a wide variety of drug related complications.
Complications from Benicar
Benicar is a widely prescribed blood pressure medication from the angiotension-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors class of drugs. It has been in use for the past decade. In July 2013 the FDA issued a drug alert about potentially life-threatening adverse side effects of this drug. These effects consist of severe diarrhea, weight-loss and an impaired ability to absorb nutrients from the digestive tract, called malabsorption. Some individuals who take Benicar develop clinical and biopsy findings in the colon consistent with a condition called celiac sprue, which is caused by an intolerance to gluten.
Diagnosing Adverse Effects
Diagnosing Benicar related diarrhea, weight-loss, and malabsorption requires doctors to rule out the more common celiac sprue diagnosis through blood testing and restricting gluten from the diet. Another approach is to stop Benicar treatment which improves drug related diarrhea fairly quickly over a period of days, following discontinuation of the drug. Then, when the Benicar is started and the diarrhea returns it’s clear that the drug is the cause.
Advocacy for Complications
As a physician I have seen the effects of unexplained severe diarrhea, weight-loss, and malabsorption and the profound impact that leads to progressive disability, loss of independence, infection, and in some cases death from malnutrition related problems. Benicar was marketed without an appropriate warning of this potentially life-threatening adverse side effect, and the manufacturer should be liable for past, present, and future economic and non-economic damages including pain and suffering.
If you have suffered from Benicar related gastrointestinal problems or know someone who has suffered from malnutrition, severe diarrhea, or malabsorption while taking this medication, contact Dr. Greg Vigna, bad drugs lawyer, for information regarding individual rights against the manufacturer of this drug. Dr. Vigna will evaluate the medical records to determine issues related to causation and damages related to this drug.
