Lawsuit Indicates Side Effects of Ozempic Caused Woman’s Stomach Paralysis, Blood Clots

Woman claims Ozempic side effects caused bleeding stomach ulcer and pulmonary embolism after only several months of use.

An Illinois woman has filed an Ozempic lawsuit alleging that the widely used diabetes drug caused her to develop stomach paralysis, along with several related complications, including multiple pulmonary emboli.

The complaint (PDF) was brought by Maureen Mitchell in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on May 15, naming Novo Nordisk and a number of its subsidiaries as defendants.

Ozempic (semaglutide) was introduced by Novo Nordisk in December 2017, as a once-weekly injection for adults with type 2 diabetes. Since then, the FDA has expanded its approved uses to include helping reduce the risk of heart disease in people with type 2 diabetes, and has allowed the drug to be offered in stronger doses.

Novo Nordisk has also introduced a separate version of the drug under the brand name Wegovy, which is approved and marketed for weight loss. However, there have been growing concerns about side effects of Ozempic and Wegovy in recent months, including reports that users have been left with stomach paralysis and severe gastrointestinal problems.

Mitchell’s lawsuit indicates she began taking Ozempic injections in August 2023, but stopped using the drug by November of the same year.

Despite the short duration of use, the complaint alleges that Mitchell was diagnosed with gastroparesis—a condition that has caused her to experience severe vomiting, stomach pain, gastrointestinal burning, and ongoing difficulty eating and sleeping. 

She also suffered a bleeding ulcer in her stomach, and had to be treated for four blood clots that migrated into her lungs, known as a pulmonary embolism, which can be life-threatening. The complications led to the need for hospitalization and additional medications.

“Instead of properly disclosing gastrointestinal risks, the Ozempic label discloses delayed gastric emptying in the ‘Drug Interaction’ section and notes that Ozempic ‘may impact absorption of concomitantly administered oral medications.’ Similarly, in the ‘Mechanism of Action’ section, the label minimizes gastrointestinal risks by stating that ‘[t]he mechanism of blood glucose lowering also involves a minor delay in gastric emptying in the early postprandial phase’,” the lawsuit states. “These statements only describe the drug’s mechanism of action and do not disclose gastroparesis as a risk of taking Ozempic, nor do they disclose gastroparesis as a chronic condition that can result as a consequence of taking Ozempic.”

Mitchell presents claims of negligent failure to warn, strict liability failure to warn, breach of warranty, fraudulent concealment, fraudulent misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation, and seeks both punitive and compensatory damages.

May 2025 Ozempic Lawsuits Status

Ozempic is part of a class of drugs known as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) that also include Wegovy, Mounjaro, Trulicity and Rybelus, which all face similar lawsuits brought by former users who indicate they were not adequately warned about potential side effects associated with the treatments.

Given common questions of fact and law raised in Ozempic lawsuits, Wegovy lawsuits and Mounjaro lawsuits filed throughout the federal court system, a Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) has been established 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, the parties have been tasked 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.