Prilosec OTC Lawsuit Alleges Drug Increases Risk of Food Poisoning
Published: June 4th, 2009 • Comments: 9
A complaint was filed last week in Ohio alleging that side effects of Prilosec OTC increase the risk of food poisoning. The case was filed as a class action lawsuit on behalf of all individuals who purchased Prilosec OTC since 2004.
Prilosec (omeprazole magnesium) is a proton pump inhibitor used for treatment of chronic heartburn, acid reflux and peptic ulcer disease. It became available as an over-the-counter (OTC) medication in 2003, and generated sales of about $1 billion last year.
The Prilosec class action lawsuit was filed on May 29, 2009 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio against Proctor & Gamble and AstraZeneca PLC. The complaint alleges that the drug makers knew about the Prilosec food poisoning risk, as the drug reduces bacteria-fighting acid in the stomach, but they failed to adequately warn consumers.
The named plaintiff in the Prilosec lawsuit is Thomas Mitchell, of Powell, Ohio, who started taking Prilosec OTC in July 2008. Mitchell claims that while taking the drug, he suffered from food poisoning symptoms that required medical treatment at least twice.
On one of the occasions, Mitchell states that he experienced food poisoning after a buffet-style dinner party with many other people, where he was only person who became ill.
According to the complaint, although the drug makers knew that Prilosec side effects decreases the amount of stomach acid, which has a negative effect on the stomach’s ability to destroy harmful bacteria when it is first ingested, they mislead consumers and indicated that users could continue to eat the foods they enjoy.
Prilosec OTC has been taken by thousands of consumers according to the complaint, and the Plaintiff believes that the number of class members encompassed in the lawsuit will exceed 500 people.
After AstraZeneca lost patent protection in 2002, generic forms of the drug became available. The drug maker enhanced and repackaged Prilosec as Nexium (esomeprazole magnesium), which works much the same way. Nexium sales exceeded $5 billion last year.
Comment by todd on 6 July 2009:
I have been on prilosec otc for a long time because i have gurd.
this medicine reduced stomach acid but i have been vomiting a lot causing me to miss work a lot.
i was experiencing heartburn and reflux so the doctor put me on prilosec otc after i had a predure done where they put a camera down my esophicus the test said my esophocus was normal. a year or two later i’m having the same problems but worse plus vomiting i go have that test done on my esophogus and its results changed from the last test this time they took byopies cause i had about 6 poylops and a spot that look like barretts esophogus ( a precurser to cancer). I feel that prilosec otc is the cause of these sysmptom i have plus the results from this last test were caused from the prilosec. what should i do?
Comment by Dave on 8 July 2009:
Me too. MANY instances of food poisoning and vomiting over the years.
Comment by Craig on 16 July 2009:
I had been taking Prilosec for around 15 years and have been extremely ill for about the last year. After bouncing around on other PPIs and making it worse I am now off of it and feeling much better. I now though have many polips in my stomach and still some ongoing stomach issues that I wonder if they are attributed to the long term use of Prilosec. One other thing I found on it was that it appeared to cause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar in teh 60s) which no doubt was complicating my issues.
Comment by ken on 7 September 2009:
i to have been sick now after taking prilosec and nexium. constant diareah weight lose due to the fact that i have not been able to eat any normal foods since taking these medications. at one point i was down to only being able to eat certai frozen dinners but that was it. prior to using these medications i was able to eat any and everything i wanted.it has taken 3 yrs and countless tests–including upper gi,2 endoscpies and a colonoscopy and am just now getting somewhat back to normal
Comment by Judy on 2 October 2009:
I took prilosec for about 3 years .Can Prilosec cause grave disease, B-12 deficiency. What could happen when you are told that it was safe to take prilosec plus radio active iodine treatment for graves disease could my stomach acid been so low that the radio active iodine stayed in my stomach to long, now I have alot of stomach and intestinal problems.I also have B-12 deficiency with no intrinsic factor which I believe that means it wasn’t inherited .I have been to numerous gastronlogist and primary doctors when I compained about stomach pain they increased my dosage which made my pain worse.All the doctor’s said this medications wasn’t causing my problems.
Comment by walter on 14 October 2009:
i have taken this for a less 7 yrs and been sick off and on sents never knew this drug was causing it
Comment by Sandra on 20 October 2009:
Me Too. I have had to run away from a dinner table many times with an upset stomach and trying to figure out, what in the world was that. And like others, so many times it felt like food poisoning, but when I Inquire of others, their reactions, was no reaction to the food that we all ate. So please help me get to the bottom of my upset stomach, no matter what foods I eat. Use to it was when I ate spicy and greasy foods, now it’s whenever after eating whatever. My memory is horrible. I can’t remember from one minute to the next or should I say one second to the next. I thought it was due to my stress and business of life. All the older people always reply that I’m too young for that, but I just disregarded what they were telling me.
Comment by Donald on 20 December 2009:
My wife was recently on prilosec, and she seemed to have worse symptoms, especially when eating a ham we recently bought. Food poisining or something seemed to make her sick. I believe the prilosec to blame. I wish the doctor never prescribed it for her as it seems to be ruining her life.
Comment by Ari on 22 January 2010:
My husband has had prescribed Prilosec for years. Recently has been having many awkward symptoms. Sever stomach problems, we presumed were the result of reoccurring food poisoning, he has lost a lot of hair, he is disillusioned and has slurred speech at times, dizzy, frequent headaches, poor judgment, pains all over his body like back aches and finger ache. He is starting to develop a tic in his neck and his lips. We are seeing a doctor this Sat to explore medically. We heard there might be some possibility of a correlation between his symptoms and the prilosec.