Kidney Failure Lawsuit Filed Over Nexium, Prilosec Side Effects

After using Nexium and Prilosec for nearly a decade, an Illinois man indicates that side effects of the heartburn drugs caused him to develop an acute kidney injury, which was followed by a diagnosis of kidney failure a few months later.

In a complaint (PDF) filed last month in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, Kenneth Lloyd Dravland, Jr. indicates that AstraZeneca and Procter & Gamble failed to adequately warn consumers and the medical community about the kidney failure risks associated with Nexium and Prilosec.

Dravland took the drugs from May 2007 through June 2016, including both name brand medications, as well as an over-the-counter version of Prilosec, at various times. In March 2016, Dravland indicates that he was diagnosed with acute kidney injury, which involves abrupt loss of kidney function.

According to the lawsuit, Dravland took Prilosec, Nexium, and Prilosec OTC from May 2007, through June 2016. In March 2016 he was diagnosed with acute kidney injury, which involves an abrupt loss of kidney function. About three months later, in June 2016, he was diagnosed with acute kidney failure, which is a severe condition that continues to cause Dravland to experience reduced kidney function to the present day.

Nexium and Prilosec are two of the most widely used brand-name medications in the U.S., which are both part of a popular class of heartburn drugs known as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), which also includes Prevacid, Protonix, Dexilant and others. Several of the medications are now available as generics over-the-counter.

The lawsuit indicates that Dravland may have been able to avoid the kidney problems from Nexium and Prilosec if the drug companies had not withheld and concealed important side effect information, and misrepresented that the drugs were safe to use every day.

“Despite Defendants’ knowledge of data indicating that PPI use is causally related to the development of Acute Kidney Injury, Defendants promoted and marketed PPIs as safe and effective for persons, such as Kenneth Lloyd Dravland, Jr., throughout the United States, including Illinois,” the lawsuit states. “Despite Defendants’ knowledge of the increased risk of severe injury among PPI users, Defendants did not warn patients but instead continued to defend PPIs, mislead physicians and the public and minimize unfavorable findings.”

The complaint joins dozens of other Nexium lawsuits, Prilosec lawsuits, Protonix lawsuits, Prevacid lawsuits and Dexilant lawsuits brought by individuals nationwide in recent months, claiming that the drug makers withheld information about the risks associated with long-term use of the medications.

As heartburn drug injury lawyers continue to review and file cases, it is expected that thousands of similar chronic kidney disease lawsuits and other claims over side effects of PPI medications could be filed in the coming months.

Nexium and Prilosec Kidney Failure

Since Nexium and other PPI drugs have lacked kidney warnings for years, they are widely believed to be safe by most consumers and doctors, and many individuals remain on the medications for years with little attempt to reduce use. However, a number of studies published in recent years have highlighted serious risks, including acute interstitial nephritis (AIN), acute kidney injury (AKI), chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal failure.

In an independent study published by the medical journal CMAJ Open in April 2015, researchers found that users of PPI medications were 3 times more likely to suffer acute interstitial nephritis, which involves inflammation of the kidney. In addition, the study found that users were 2.5 times more likely to develop acute kidney injury, which involves an abrupt loss of kidney function.

This research was followed by a study published last year in the medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine, which also found an increased risk of chronic kidney disease with the heartburn medications, indicating that users of Nexium, Prilosec and other PPI may be 50% more likely when compared to non-users.

In April 2016, researchers with the Department of Veterans Affairs found that users of Nexium, Prilosec or other PPIs may be 96% more likely to develop renal failure and 28% more likely to develop chronic kidney disease after five years of use.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation rejected a request to consolidate all federal proton pump inhibitor kidney damage lawsuits before one judge for pretrial proceedings, saying that the drugs were too dissimilar, and also direct competitors. Therefore, the complaint filed by Dravland, as well as other cases filed in U.S. District Courts nationwide, are moving forward as individual claims, without coordinated discovery.