Ozempic Gastroparesis Lawsuit Filed Over Failure To Warn About Permanent Stomach Problems

A South Dakota man has filed one of the first gastroparesis lawsuits against Ozempic manufacturers, alleging that users have not been adequately warned about the risk of severe vomiting and long-term stomach side effects.

Novo Nordisk faces a product liability lawsuit over the risk of gastroparesis from Ozempic, alleging that the drug maker has failed to warn that users may be left with severe and permanent stomach problems, including vomiting, diarrhea, acid reflux and other long-term gastric side effects.

Gastroparesis is a painful condition that impacts the stomach muscles and prevents proper stomach emptying. It is also sometimes referred to as stomach paralysis, gastric stasis or a gastric obstruction, and typically resulting in persistent nausea, vomiting and other complications, which often require repeated hospitalizations or medical visits.

The complaint (PDF) was filed by Rodney Muilenburg in the U.S. District Court District of South Dakota on November 27, indicating that he was diagnosed with gastroparesis after starting use of Ozempic for its intended purposes of controlling his blood sugar to manage Type II diabetes.

Ozempic Failure to Warn Lawsuits

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.

As a result of the popularity of Ozempic for weight loss, Novo Nordisk has introduced a higher dose version under the brand name Wegovy, which is specifically approved as a diet drug.

Although advertisements promote the drug as safe and effective, with few long-term side effects, there have been rising concerns over long-term gastrointestinal issues linked to the medications, and a number of former users are now investigating potential Ozempic lawsuits and Wegovy lawsuits, each raising similar claims that they developed painful and debilitating stomach problems, which could have been avoided if false and misleading information had not been provided for users and the medical community.

Muilenburg’s Ozempic gastroparesis lawsuit indicates that he started using the drug in November 2020, and soon after developed intense gastrointestinal issues, including extreme vomiting, continuous diarrhea, and acid reflux. As a result of the severe side effects, Muilenburg states he was forced to stop taking Ozempic by December 2020, and was ultimately diagnosed with gastroparesis, which has left him with severe and permanent damages nearly three years later.

The complaint indicates that since 2018, Novo Nordisk has spent nearly $884 million on television ads promoting both Ozempic and Wegovy in the United States, all while failing to disclose known gastroparesis risks anywhere on the warning label.

“The Ozempic label lists nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and constipation as common adverse reactions reported in Ozempic patients, but it does not include these adverse reactions in its Warnings and Precautions section, nor does it warn that these adverse reactions are symptoms of more severe conditions, including gastroparesis. In fact, gastroparesis is not mentioned at all in the label” the complaint states.

Research Links Ozempic to Gastroparesis

Among other evidence, the lawsuit points to a JAMA study just published on October 5, 2023, which found that Ozempic triples the risk of gastroparesis among users when compared to users of non-injectable weight loss drugs.

This research compared the gastrointestinal side effects of Ozempic and other injectable GLP-1 agonists like liraglutide (Victoza and Saxenda) against those experienced by users of Contrave (bupropion-naltrexone), an oral weight management medication.

The findings indicated that about 1% of Ozempic users developed stomach paralysis, compared to 0.7% of liraglutide users and around 0.3% of those on Contrave. The study highlighted that injectable semaglutide and liraglutide were significantly more likely to cause stomach paralysis and bowel obstruction than Contrave.

FDA Warning Over Ozempic Gastric Illness Side Effects

The findings of the JAMA study came just days after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued new Ozempic warning label update, indicating that it can increase the risk of intestinal blockages. The warning links Ozempic to a condition known as ileus, which can cause abdominal cramps, bloating, nausea, vomiting, constipation, difficulty passing gas and difficulty eating.

The symptoms of gastroparesis from Ozempic are similar to ileus, including nausea, vomiting undigested food, abdominal pain, abdominal bloating, severe dehydration, feeling full after only a few bites, undigested food hardening in the stomach, acid reflux, fluctuating blood sugar levels, lack of appetite, weight loss, malnutrition and decreased quality of life. However, some users diagnosed with Ozempic-induced gastroparesis report that the side effects persisted long after the drug is discontinued.

Growing Momentum for Ozempic Lawsuits Over Gastroparesis

The first known Ozempic gastroparesis lawsuit was filed in early August, by a Louisiana woman who suffered severe gastroparesis and repeated hospitalization after taking the drug for more than a year.

Nearly identical allegations were also raised in an Ozempic class action lawsuit filed last month in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, indicating that a Canadian woman suffered a blockage in her biliary system after using the drug, resulting in severe pain, chronic diarrhea, heartburn and hospitalization.

These complaints have sparked substantial media attention and highlighted previously undisclosed health risks associated with Ozempic, leading to thousands of individuals who have experienced similar problems reaching out to lawyers to determine if they may qualify for an Ozempic lawsuit, and it is widely expected that a wave of litigation may soon emerge against Novo Nordisk in the coming months.