Ozempic Delayed Gastric Emptying Led to Stomach Paralysis: Lawsuit

Claim joins more than 1,500 other lawsuits filed over the side effects of Ozempic and similar diabetes and weight loss drugs.

Just six months after starting Ozempic for weight loss, a Mississippi woman indicates in a recently filed lawsuit that delayed gastric emptying caused by the drug led to the development of severe nausea, persistent vomiting and stomach paralysis.

Casey Kelly filed the complaint (PDF) on March 21, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, naming the drug manufacturer, Novo Nordisk, as the defendant.

Ozempic (semaglutide) was initially approved for the treatment of people with type 2 diabetes. However, amid aggressive advertisements that promoted the weight loss benefits, Ozempic has been increasingly prescribed as a diet drug in recent years, making it a blockbuster treatment that is used by millions of Americans.

Although promoted as safe and effective, with few long-term side effects, there have been a rising number of reports from users indicating they developed severe gastrointestinal issues such as stomach paralysis, or gastroparesis, after taking Ozempic.   

Due to the widespread reports of similar side effects among users of Ozempic and other popular GLP-1 drugs, hundreds of former patients are now pursuing Ozempic lawsuits and Wegovy lawsuits against Novo Nordisk, as well as Mounjaro lawsuit against Eli Lilly.

Each of the claims present similar allegations that users developed painful and debilitating stomach problems, which could have been avoided if the drug makers had not provided false and misleading information to patients and the medical community.

Stomach paralysis, also known as gastroparesis, is a painful condition impacting the stomach muscles and preventing proper stomach emptying. The condition typically results in nausea, vomiting and other complications, often resulting in the need for hospitalization and long-term side effects.

According to her lawsuit, Kelly was prescribed a weekly 0.25 mg injection of Ozempic for weight loss in October 2022. However, shortly after starting the weekly injection, she developed severe nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and gastroparesis, prompting a gastric emptying scan that confirmed she was suffering from delayed gastric emptying caused by the medication.

“Following her March 27, 2024 diagnosis of gastroparesis, Plaintiff was told by her treating physicians that Ozempic was the probable cause of her injuries and she was recommended to discontinue the medication,” the lawsuit states. “Despite stopping the medication, Plaintiff continues to experience symptoms of nausea, and abdominal pain, as a result of her usage of Ozempic.”

Kelly presents claims of negligence, failure to warn, design defect, negligent misrepresentation and marketing, and violations of Pennsylvania fair trade laws. She seeks both compensatory and punitive damages.

March 2025 Ozempic Lawsuits Update

Kelly’s complaint joins more than 1,500 Ozempic lawsuits, Wegovy lawsuits, Mounjaro lawsuits and other claims involving users of the entire class of medications, known as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists.

Given common questions of fact and law raised in complaints brought throughout the federal court system, all GLP-1 lawsuits have been centralized as part of a multidistrict litigation (MDL) in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where they are currently being overseen by U.S. District Judge Karen Marston.

Before beginning a series of “bellwether” early test trials, Judge Marston has tasked the parties with resolving 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.

Once those factors are resolved, Judge Marston is expected to move forward with scheduling a series of early bellwether trials, which will test how juries may respond to certain evidence and testimony that may be repeated throughout thousands of individual claims.

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.