Ozempic Side Effects Led to Severe Vision Loss, Lawsuit Claims

California man indicates he experienced sudden blurred vision and flashes, which led to total vision loss and an Ozempic NAION diagnosis.

Novo Nordisk faces a new product liability lawsuit, indicating that side effects of it’s popular Ozempic injections caused a California man to develop severe loss of sight, resulting in “radical changes to his lifestyle.”

The complaint (PDF) was filed by Jason Lowe in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on January 15, against the drug manufacturer and its subsidiaries, which he argues have failed to warn consumers or the medical community about the true impact of Ozempic side effects, which are now widely used by millions of Americans.

Ozempic (semaglutide) belongs to a class of drugs known as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, which also include Mounjaro, Zepbound, Saxenda, Trulicity, Rybelsus and others. While these popular drugs began as diabetes treatments, in recent years they have been linked to significant weight loss benefits, prompting a surge in new formulations.

As their use has become more widespread, GLP-1s have been linked to several side effects, including a severe form of stomach paralysis known as gastroparesis, intestinal obstructions, hair loss and nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION). However, most of the NAION litigation has focused on Ozempic, Wegovy, Saxenda and Trulicity.

Lowe’s lawsuit joins nearly two dozen Ozempic and Wegovy vision loss lawsuits, each filed by former users who say the drugs’ NAION side effects can lead to blurred vision or blindness. These complaints are in addition to more than 2,900 GLP-1 stomach paralysis lawsuits filed throughout the federal court system.

According to his complaint, Lowe was prescribed Ozempic in August 2023 for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. However, in February of 2024, he began experiencing sudden blurred vision and flashes in his right eye.

Lowe indicates he became concerned and saw an ophthalmologist who diagnosed him with NAION. Although Lowe has stopped taking Ozempic, his loss of sight is permanent, he claims.

NAION is an irreversible eye condition and is classified as a form of eye stroke. Although not fully understood, NAION is believed to be caused by an insufficient blood supply to the optic nerve. The lawsuit notes that it is untreatable and can result in permanent blindness.

This vision loss can occur suddenly, over days or sometimes within hours, and is the second most common cause of blindness due to optic nerve damage after glaucoma.

However, Lowe’s lawsuit alleges that Novo Nordisk knew, or should have known, about the vision loss risks, noting that the manufacturer has been aware since at least 2016 that the human eye contains GLP-1 receptors, forming a causal association between Ozempic, Wegovy and NAION.

The complaint notes that reports of Optic Ischemic Neuropathy began being reported in relation to GLP-1 use as early as 2012, and linked to Ozempic and Wegovy specifically in 2019, years before Lowe’s prescription. In addition, Lowe claims Novo Nordisk knew about NAION risks as early as Ozempic clinical trials.

One study, titled “Risk of Nonarteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy in Patients Prescribed Semaglutide” published in JAMA Ophthalmology in 2024 found that individuals given GLP-1 medications were more than four times more likely to develop NAION than those treated with non-GLP-1 medications.

Despite this evidence, Novo Nordisk failed to include sufficient NAION warnings on the Ozempic or Wegovy labels, despite 14 different iterations of the warning label since the drug hit the market, the lawsuit notes.

“A Novo Nordisk spokesperson acknowledged that cases of NAION, which leads to severe and irreversible vision loss, were identified in Novo Nordisk’s clinical trials. Defendant knew or should have known of the risk of NAION with use of Ozempic.”

– Jason Lowe v. Novo Nordisk Inc. et al

Lowe presents claims of strict liability – failure to warn and design defect, negligent failure to warn, negligence, negligent misrepresentation and marketing, breach of warranty, and violation of the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices/Consumer Fraud Act. He seeks both compensatory and punitive damages.

Ozempic NAION Lawsuits

Due to facts and law common throughout the litigation, all federally filed GLP-1 vision loss lawsuits were consolidated last month in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania under U.S. District Judge Karen Marston. She is also overseeing a separate multidistrict litigation (MDL) involving GLP-1 gastrointestinal injury lawsuits, which covers claims of gastroparesis, or stomach paralysis, and intestinal obstructions attributed to the drugs.

While the two litigations will be handled separately, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) determined that there will be significant overlap given the products and manufacturers involved, thus assigning both sets of cases to Judge Marston.

In a case management order (PDF) issued on January 15, Judge Marston called for the creation of a streamlined MDL docket for the GLP-1 vision loss lawsuits to improve clarity and efficiency in managing the litigation.

The docket is to be titled “In re Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists (GLP-1 RAs) Non-Arteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy Products Liability Litigation (Streamlined Docket).”

On January 14, Judge Marston also ordered the creation of a streamlined docket (PDF) for GLP-1 gastrointestinal claims, titled “In re Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists GLP-1 RAs Products Liability Litigation (Streamlined Docket).”

Both streamlined dockets will be restricted to include:

• The JPML’s initial transfer order
• The JPML order assigning the litigation to Judge Marston
• Master pleadings
• Case Management Orders
• Briefings and rulings on contested discovery motions
• Briefings and rulings on dispositive motions
• Briefings and rulings on motions regarding expert witnesses and testimony

Judge Marston is expected to direct the parties to prepare representative cases in both sets of litigation to serve as bellwether test trials. Those early trials would give both sides insight into how juries may respond to evidence and testimony regarding GLP-1–related vision loss and gastrointestinal injury claims that are expected to be repeated throughout the litigation.

If the parties do not reach GLP-1 settlement agreements after those bellwether trials, Judge Marston is likely to begin remanding cases in the MDLs back to their original courts for individual trial dates.

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