NAION Ozempic Lawsuit Filed After User’s Eye Suffers 85% Vision Loss

Man was left nearly blind in his left eye after only a few months of Ozempic use.

A lawsuit filed by a New York man alleges the makers of Ozempic knew, or should have known, that the side effects of the popular diabetes and weight loss drug could cause rare cases of sudden, incurable blindness.

According to the complaint (PDF) brought by Geoffrey Symonds in New Jersey federal court on July 2, defendant Novo Nordisk, and its U.S. subsidiaries, failed to warn consumers or the medical community that clinical trials, post-marketing studies and other evidence pointed to Ozempic being linked to a condition known as non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION). 

NAION is a condition caused by reduced blood flow to the optic nerve, resulting in sudden, painless vision loss, often in one eye. It is considered a medical emergency and can lead to permanent vision impairment.

Ozempic (semaglutide) is approved to treat type 2 diabetes and belongs to a newer class of drugs called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists. Since its approval in 2017, the drug’s weight loss benefits have led to the development of Wegovy, a version approved specifically to treat obesity.

The medications, and competing GLP-1 drugs like Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro (tirzepatide) diabetes drug and its weight loss version, Zepbound, currently face thousands of gastroparesis lawsuits over gastrointestinal side effects that can cause stomach paralysis, as well as intestinal obstructions. Each claim includes similar allegations that the manufacturers downplayed adverse health risks they had likely been aware of before the drugs even hit the market.

Ozempic Vision Loss Problems

NAION Ozempic lawsuits first began to be investigated, and later filed, after Harvard researchers published a study in early July 2024, warning that patients using semaglutide may face a seven-fold increased risk of Ozempic NAION vision problems, such as  sudden vision changes, blurred sight, blindness or other symptoms linked to the rare condition.

These findings appeared to be confirmed by a study published in medRxiv in January, and European regulators issued a warning last month that the condition could affect as many as 1 in 10,000 Ozempic and Wegovy users.

Symonds’ lawsuit indicates that he used Ozempic from about November 2021 until about January 2022. In that short time, Symonds lost 85% of sight in his left eye.

“As a result of using Ozempic, Plaintiff is suffering from vision loss bilaterally and dealing with anxiety due to his condition. Plaintiff is finding it hard to manage life due to his circumstances.”

–Geoffrey Symonds v. Novo Nordisk et al

The complaint notes that neither Symonds nor his physician were made aware of the risks of Ozempic NAION side effects, and continued to be unaware until the publication of the July 2024 study.

However, according to the lawsuit, Novo Nordisk knew, or should have known, of the potential side effects long before that study was published.

The company had data from pre-clinical trials, premarket clinical trials, post-market surveillance studies, adverse event reports, all of which should have pointed to the conclusion that Ozempic could cause NAION and permanent, incurable vision loss, Symonds alleges.

The complaint also points out that Novo Nordisk spent “hundreds of millions of dollars” marketing GLP-1 products like Ozempic, while simultaneously withholding and misrepresenting information that was obtained after FDA approval regarding possible side effects of the drugs.

Symonds presents claims of failure to warn, breach of warranty, fraudulent concealment, fraudulent/intentional misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation, strict product liability misrepresentation, negligent design, strict liability design defect, negligence, and negligent undertaking. He seeks both compensatory and punitive damages.

July 2025 Ozempic Gastroparesis Lawsuits

While Symonds’ complaint joins a growing number of NAION Ozempic lawsuits, thousands of Ozempic lawsuits, Wegovy lawsuits and Mounjaro lawsuits filed over debilitating stomach paralysis injuries are currently consolidated before U.S. District Judge Karen S. Marston in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Judge Marston is presiding over coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings to prepare a small group of cases for early trial dates. However, before scheduling the first bellwether trials, she has tasked the parties with addressing a number of “cross-cutting” issues, including whether claims are preempted by federal law, whether plaintiffs are required to present specific diagnostic testing evidence to substantiate their injuries, and whether there is sufficient general causation evidence linking Ozempic and the gastrointestinal injuries.

While the outcomes of these early test cases will not be binding on other claims, they will be closely watched and may help the parties negotiate GLP-1 settlements to resolve large numbers of lawsuits in the future.

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