Lawsuit Blames Mounjaro, Ozempic Side Effects for Vision Loss

Louisiana man claims he woke up blind in his right eye months after starting Mounjaro and Ozempic for the treatment of his type 2 diabetes.

A newly filed lawsuit claims the manufacturers of Ozempic and Mounjaro failed to warn diabetic patients about the potential risk of vision loss associated with certain GLP-1 drugs.

The complaint (PDF) was brought by Donald H. Tipton in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on September 1. It names as defendants Eli Lilly and Company Inc., the makers of Mounjaro, as well as Novo Nordisk Inc. and Novo Nordisk A/S/, who make Ozempic.

Tipton claims both companies knowingly sell diabetes treatments that can cause severe and sudden vision loss but have failed to warn patients or the medical community. He alleges both companies participated in deceptive and misleading marketing about the drugs’ potential health risks.

Ozempic and Mounjaro Health Concerns

Ozempic (semaglutide) and Mounjaro (tirzepatide) belong to a class of medications known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, which started as type 2 diabetes treatments, and then skyrocketed in popularity after the injections were linked to significant weight loss and other metabolic advantages.

The manufacturers have expanded into the weight loss industry, with Novo Nordisk fielding a diet version of Ozempic called Wegovy, and its competitor Eli Lilly releasing a weight loss version of Mounjaro known as Zepbound.

Despite the popularity, in July 2024, a study was released linking GLP-1 use to vision loss due to a condition known as non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), which causes a lack of blood flow to the optic nerves. This can cause sudden and often irreversible vision loss. The study linked Ozempic and Wegovy, in particular, to a seven-fold increased risk of NAION, as well as increased risks across the GLP-1 class.

As a result, dozens of plaintiffs have filed Ozempic and Mounjaro vision loss lawsuits, each raising allegations that Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly placed profits ahead of patient safety by failing to either adequately test the drugs or warn doctors and consumers about the risks.

GLP-1 Vision Loss Allegations

Tipton’s lawsuit indicates he was prescribed Mounjaro in May 2023 to treat type 2 diabetes before switching to Ozempic in April 2024.

By June 2024, Tipton says the vision in his right eye began to deteriorate, becoming increasingly blurry and significantly impaired. On July 1, 2024, he woke up unable to see out of that eye.

After being evaluated by multiple eye specialists and other health care providers, Tipton was informed that the vision loss was permanent.

The complaint alleges reports of vision problems associated with GLP-1 medications date back to at least 2012, and researchers have raised concerns that these complications may have been underreported during the clinical trials used to support approval of the drugs.

Despite those concerns, Tipton claims the manufacturers continued spending millions of dollars to promote the medications without updating the warning labels to adequately disclose the potential risk of vision loss.

“Throughout this sustained commercial promotion, Defendants actively concealed internal clinical data showing microvascular ocular danger, downplayed the systemic risks of the drug, and failed to provide any instructions advising pre-treatment baseline visual examinations or routine ongoing eye monitoring to ensure safe use.”

– Donald H. Tipton v. Eli Lilly and Company Inc. et al.

The filing raises allegations of inadequate warning and breach of express warranty. It seeks compensatory damages for pain and suffering, as well as past, present and future medical expenses.

Ozempic and Mounjaro NAION Lawsuits

Tipton’s complaint was filed directly in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where federal Ozempic and Mounjaro vision loss lawsuits are being coordinated as part of MDL No. 3163 before U.S. District Judge Karen Marston.

The multidistrict litigation was established on December 15, 2025, when the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation transferred an initial group of 18 GLP-1 vision loss lawsuits to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings. The cases were assigned to Judge Marston, who is overseeing claims involving non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) associated with Ozempic, Mounjaro and other GLP-1 medications.

Judge Marston is currently moving the litigation through coordinated discovery, with early proceedings focused on issues that could impact a large number of claims, including whether plaintiffs can establish that GLP-1 medications are capable of causing NAION and whether certain failure-to-warn claims may be preempted by federal law.

If the lawsuits survive those early challenges, the court is expected to move toward selecting representative cases for potential bellwether trials. Although the results of those trials would not be binding on other plaintiffs, they could help the parties evaluate the strength and value of similar claims and influence future Ozempic and Mounjaro vision loss settlement negotiations.

Judge Marston is also overseeing a separate group of GLP-1 stomach paralysis lawsuits involving gastroparesis and other gastrointestinal injuries. Those cases are part of a different MDL and are proceeding on a separate litigation track.

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