Ozempic Gastroparesis Problems Persisted After Injections Stopped, Lawsuit Alleges

A year and a half after stopping GLP-1 injections for type 2 diabetes, man’s Ozempic gastroparesis side effects continue.

A North Carolina man diagnosed with stomach paralysis after using Ozempic says his symptoms lasted for months after he discontinued the widely used diabetes medication.

The complaint (PDF) was filed by Michael Hemenway in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on October 2, naming Novo Nordisk, Ozempic’s manufacturer, as the defendant.

Approved in 2017 to treat type 2 diabetes, Ozempic (semaglutide) belongs to a class of drugs called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, which help lower A1C levels by improving insulin secretion, reducing appetite, and slowing digestion. 

Although designed to manage blood sugar, Ozempic soon gained attention for its weight-loss effects, leading to the development of a higher-dose version marketed as Wegovy. Today, both medications are used by millions of Americans for diabetes control and weight management.

However, in recent years, Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs have been linked to a number of gastrointestinal problems, including gastroparesis, known as stomach paralysis, and bowel obstructions. This has led to a growing number of Ozempic lawsuits and Wegovy lawsuits filed by former users who say Novo Nordisk failed to provide adequate warnings about the drugs’ gastrointestinal side effects.

According to the lawsuit, Hemenway was prescribed Ozempic for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in October 2023. He continued to use the medication until January 2024.

Early that month, Hemenway began suffering epigastric pain, nausea, vomiting and acute abdominal pain. After undergoing an abdominal and pelvic CT scan, he was found to have a distended stomach containing food and liquid, which was eventually diagnosed as gastroparesis.

“Based on Plaintiff’s symptoms, Plaintiff was instructed to stop taking Ozempic, but despite stopping the medication, Plaintiff continued to suffer from the same symptoms.”

– Michael Hemenway v. Novo Nordisk Inc.

By February 2024, a gastric emptying study confirmed that Hemenway was still suffering from stomach paralysis. He was placed on a gastroparesis diet but continues to experience recurring symptoms, according to the lawsuit.

Hemenway presents claims of negligence, negligent failure to warn, negligent design defect, negligent misrepresentation and marketing, breach of warranty, strict liability – failure to warn, fraudulent concealment and violation of the North Carolina Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

Ozempic Gastroparesis Lawsuits

Hemenway’s lawsuit will be consolidated as part of a GLP-1 lawsuit multidistrict litigation in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where U.S. District Judge Karen Marston is overseeing coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.

For the early stages of the litigation, Judge Marston has directed the parties to focus on certain issues, including discovery and pretrial motions regarding general causation evidence over the link between Ozempic and gastric obstructions, gastroparesis and other injuries, as well as questions about whether the claims are preempted by federal law.

After resolving those issues, the judge is expected to direct the parties to select several representative Ozempic lawsuits for early bellwether test trials, which will help the parties gauge how juries are likely to respond to evidence and testimony that would be presented throughout the litigation.

While the outcomes of these bellwether trials are not binding on other claims, they could help the parties reach an Ozempic settlement agreement that would avoid the need for each individual case to be sent back to their originating districts for costly individual trials in the future.