Prevacid Kidney Failure Lawsuit Filed Over Popular Heartburn Drug

According to allegations raised in a product liability lawsuit filed this month against Takeda Pharmaceuticals, side effects of Prevacid caused kidney failure for a North Carolina man. 

The complaint (PDF) was filed by Frank A. Moore in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina on November 7, indicating that Takeda failed to provide adequate warnings for consumers and the medical community about the potential link between the blockbuster heartburn drug Prevacid and kidney damage.

Moore indicates that he suffered renal insufficiency and renal failure in late 2015, after using Prevacid. The lawsuit notes that had he been properly warned that Prevacid would increase his risk of kidney failure, there were several safer alternatives that he could have taken instead.

Prevacid belongs to a class of heartburn drugs known as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), which also includes Nexium, Prilosec and others. In recent years, a number of independent studies have raised serious questions about the safety of the drugs, suggesting that users may face an increased risk of acute kidney injury, acute interstitial nephritis, chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal failure.

The case joins dozens of similar Prevacid lawsuits, Nexium lawsuits, Prilosec lawsuits and other claims brought against manufacturers of proton pump inhibitors in recent months.

As more individual and families learn that kidney problems experienced in recent years may have been caused by the popular heartburn drugs, it is widely expected that thousands of additional cases may be filed in the coming months and years.

“In spite of their commercial success and global popularity, up to 70% of PPIs may be used inappropriately for indications or durations that were never tested or approved,”  the lawsuit states. “As a result of the defective nature of PPIs, even if used as directed by a physician or healthcare professional, persons who ingested PPIs have been exposed to significant risks stemming from unindicated and/or long-term usage.”

After a series of studies in recent years, which suggested Prevacid and other PPI drugs may increase the risk of kidney damage, the FDA required Takeda and other drug makers to update the warnings in December 2014, indicating for the first time that that there may be a risk of acute interstitial nephritis (AIN) risk from Prevacid, Nexium, Prilosec and other proton pump inhibitors. This condition involves inflammation of the kidneys, but plaintiffs maintain that the warnings do not go far enough to raise awareness about the serious risks associated with these medications.

In April 2015, a study published in the medical journal CMAJ Open found that Nexium, Prilosec, and other PPIs cause a 3 times higher risk of acute interstitial nephritis, but were also associated with a 2.5 times higher risk of acute kidney injury, which involves an abrupt loss of kidney function.

Earlier this year, a study published in the medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine built on these findings, examining data on more than 10,000 participants over a period of more than 10 years, finding that the drugs were also associated with a higher incidence of chronic kidney disease.

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 kidney failure and 28% more likely to develop chronic kidney disease after five years of use.