Lawsuits Over Vision Loss From Ozempic, Mounjaro Should Be Sent to New MDL Judge, Plaintiffs Argue

While manufacturers seek to consolidate the vision loss lawsuits with over 3,000 GLP-1 stomach paralysis lawsuits in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, plaintiffs indicate a different judge should oversee these other claims.

Plaintiffs are asking the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) to create a separate federal MDL for lawsuits over vision loss from Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and other GLP-1 drugs, rather than folding them into the existing mass tort established for claims involving stomach paralysis and other gastrointestinal injuries.

While there are already about 3,000 Ozempic lawsuits, Wegovy lawsuits and Mounjaro lawsuits pending in the federal court system, which involve a failure to warn about the risk of gastroparesis, there are also a steadily growing number of product liability claims now being pursued by individuals who developed a rare vision condition, known as nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), after using medications from the popular class of drugs known as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists.

Concerns about potential GLP-1 vision loss side effects first emerged in July 2024, following the publication of a study by Harvard researchers that found a seven-fold increased risk of NAION among Ozempic users. Another study published in early August in JAMA Ophthalmology determined that the problem was not just linked to Ozempic, as was first suspected, but was likely class-wide.

The findings have led to dozens of GLP-1 vision loss lawsuits being filed in federal courts nationwide, each raising similar allegations that a desire for profits was placed above the health and safety of patients, by failing to research the problem or warn users about the potential risk.

The GLP-1 stomach paralysis lawsuits have been consolidated for coordinated pretrial proceedings in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania under U.S. District Judge Karen S. Marston, who is overseeing preparations for future bellwether trials.

In August, Eli Lilly, the creator of Mounjaro and Zepbound, filed a petition with the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML), calling for the GLP-1 vision loss lawsuits to also be consolidated under Judge Marston.

The motion indicated that at least 21 GLP-1 NAION lawsuits had already been filed across three federal districts, and the size of the litigation has only continued to grow over the past few months.

However, a memorandum in opposition (PDF) to Eli Lilly’s recommendations was filed last month by some plaintiffs who have brought GLP-1 NAION lawsuits themselves, saying the litigation should be consolidated under a different judge in a different venue. They argue that consolidation into the current stomach paralysis MDL “would harm efficiency, not enhance it.”

“At bottom, Lilly argues that dozens of filed Plaintiffs suffering from vision loss (and hundreds or thousands of Plaintiffs whose claims are not yet filed) should be denied the opportunity to advance their claims and instead get in line behind thousands of Plaintiffs pursuing gastrointestinal claims that involve fundamentally different core allegations and evidence.”

– Memorandum in Opposition to Eli Lilly and Company’s Motion for Transfer of Actions

Instead, the memorandum, supported by a number of other plaintiffs who filed similar responses, calls for the litigation to be consolidated in New Jersey federal court, where 17 of the 21 claims to date have been filed.

In a response (PDF) to plaintiffs’ position, Eli Lilly argues that the stomach paralysis and vision loss lawsuits are “replete with overlapping issues of fact and law” and called the plaintiffs’ narrow focus on injury differences to be misguided. Novo Nordisk also filed a memorandum (PDF) in support of Eli Lilly’s proposal.

Judge Marston is currently already tackling key issues in the GLP-1 stomach paralysis litigation, calling on parties to focus on several preliminary issues that would impact all stomach paralysis claims, including a determination about whether the failure to warn lawsuits are preempted by federal law and whether there is sufficient general causation evidence linking Ozempic and the gastrointestinal injuries.

The JPML has yet to schedule oral arguments over the recommendations. Its next scheduled hearing is on December 4.

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