A growing number of lawsuits, now exceeding 4,400 across federal and state courts, are targeting pharmaceutical giants Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. These lawsuits allege that GLP-1 medications, including popular drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound, have caused patients to suffer sudden and permanent vision loss, specifically non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), often described as an eye stroke. This condition, which can strike without warning and leads to irreversible sight impairment, has reportedly affected individuals as young as 33 years old, with some losing vision in both eyes.
The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has centralized these cases into a new multi-district litigation (MDL) in Philadelphia federal court, distinct from but overseen by the same judge as an existing MDL concerning gastrointestinal side effects. Plaintiffs contend that drug manufacturers failed to adequately warn American patients about this severe risk, despite updated labels in Europe and the UK for semaglutide (the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy) explicitly mentioning NAION as a rare side effect, affecting up to 1 in 10,000 patients. U.S. labels, however, currently warn only of general "vision changes.
A 2024 study published in JAMA Ophthalmology by researchers at Mass Eye and Ear in Boston is cited in the lawsuits, indicating a significantly higher risk of NAION among diabetic patients (four times more likely) and overweight patients (seven times more likely) prescribed GLP-1 medications. Attorneys representing the plaintiffs emphasize that patients had no prior warning of this potential side effect, and once it occurs, it is permanent. This situation has led to calls for increased public awareness and more explicit warnings on U.S. drug labels, particularly as the GLP-1 market is projected to reach $150 billion by 2030.
