Wegovy Lawsuit Alleges Vision Loss Side Effects Concealed by Novo Nordisk

After just one year of using the popular weight loss drug, an Illinois man experienced vision loss side effects from Wegovy, resulting in a diagnosis of NAION.

An Illinois man’s Wegovy lawsuit claims that side effects from the popular weight loss drug caused him to develop permanent vision problems, which could have been avoided if the medication carried proper label warnings.

The complaint (PDF) was filed by Kirk Osterman in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey on April 29, naming Novo Nordisk, Wegovy’s manufacturer, and its subsidiaries as the defendants.

Wegovy (semaglutide) is a higher-dose formulation of the diabetes drug Ozempic, and both belong to a class of medications known as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs). While Ozempic is only approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, it has been widely used off-label for weight loss. In response to this growing demand, Novo Nordisk introduced Wegovy in June 2021, using the same active ingredient specifically for weight management.

Wegovy Vision Loss Side Effects

In recent months, concerns have grown over the side effects of Wegovy, Ozempic and other GLP-1 medications, particularly related to serious gastrointestinal issues such as gastroparesis, ileus and intestinal blockages.

However, new concerns about Wegovy vision loss side effects emerged in July 2024, after a study was published by Harvard researchers that found patients using semaglutide may face seven times the risk of a rare eye condition, known as non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), where the optic nerve suffers from insufficient blood flow. The condition can cause sudden vision changes, blurred sight and even blindness.

These findings appeared to be confirmed by a study published in medRxiv in January, which led the Danish Medicines Agency to issue a press release days later, announcing that it is officially requesting an investigation into Ozempic and Wegovy NAION risks by the European Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC).

In his lawsuit, Osterman indicates he was first prescribed Wegovy for weight loss in June 2023, and continued to take regular injections for about a year.

As a result, Osterman’s complaint states that he developed NAION, leading to blurred vision and some vision loss in his right eye.

According to the complaint, the situation is made worse by the fact that Wegovy-induced weight loss is not sustainable without ongoing use of the drug. As a result, users must continue taking the medication, and potentially face an increased risk of vision loss, just to maintain the weight they’ve lost.

“Defendants knew, or should have known, based on preclinical trials, premarket clinical trials, post-market surveillance, and adverse event reports of NAION injuries with Wegovy or semaglutide drugs that there was reasonable evidence of a causal association between the use of Wegovy and NAION,” the lawsuit states. “Despite this, Defendants failed to warn about the risk of NAION with Wegovy.”

Osterman presents claims of failure to warn, breach of warranty, fraudulent concealment by omission, fraudulent/intentional misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation/marketing, negligent design, design defect, negligence, and negligent undertaking. He seeks compensatory and punitive damages.

Wegovy and GLP-1 Stomach Paralysis Lawsuits

While recent filings of NAION vision loss lawsuits linked to Wegovy and Ozempic are on the rise, most of the focus has been on thousands of gastroparesis lawsuits brought by former user of the medications, each presenting similar allegations that users were left with the painful and debilitating stomach problems, also known as stomach paralysis.

Plaintiffs in these cases argue that debilitating gastrointestinal side effects could have been avoided if the drug makers had not placed profits over patient safety, and provided false and misleading information to patients and the medical community.

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.