Weight Loss Drug Lawsuit

People are filing weight loss lawsuits over Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly’s alleged failure to warn consumers about the dangerous side effects of weight loss drugs. Medications named in weight loss lawsuits include:

• Ozempic®
• Wegovy®
• Rybelsus®
• Trulicity
• Mounjaro®

Individuals who used these other GLP-1 receptor agonists have suffered many health issues, including vision loss, pulmonary embolism, intestinal obstruction and blockage, malnutrition, cyclical vomiting, gastroenteritis and gastroparesis. Plaintiffs allege these medical conditions can severely and permanently affect patients’ lives. 

Weight loss drug side effects

GLP-1 receptor agonists are a class of medications used to lower blood sugar and encourage weight loss by reducing appetite. They work by mimicking the natural GLP-1 hormone, which the body naturally creates in the small intestine. Functions of the GLP-1 hormone include:

• Blocking secretion of glucagon (a hormone that raises blood sugar levels when needed) 
• Increasing feelings of fullness (satiety) after eating
• Slowing stomach emptying
• Triggering the pancreas to produce insulin

Many side effects of GLP-1 receptor agonists affect the gastrointestinal system. Other alleged health problems affect the eyes and vascular system. Injuries named in weight loss drug lawsuits include:

• Deep vein thrombosis and related injuries, including death
• Esophageal injury requiring surgery
• Gallbladder injury leading to removal, prior to March 2022
• Gastrointestinal (GI) injury requiring surgery
• Ileus or bowel obstruction, with or without surgical treatment
• Intraoperative pulmonary aspiration
• Pancreatic cancer
• Persistent vomiting which requires hospitalization
• Severe and ongoing symptoms of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation or other gastrointestinal issues that required hospitalization or many visits to the doctor
• Severe or permanent diagnosed stomach paralysis or gastroparesis
• Vision changes, including sudden blindness, new color blindness or optic nerve stroke

If you or a loved one has vision loss, deep vein thrombosis, gastroparesis or another medical condition linked to GLP-1 weight loss medications, you may qualify for a weight loss lawsuit. You could be entitled to compensation for medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering and more.

Novo Nordisk is a global healthcare company that has developed, made and sold several weight loss drugs. In the early 2000s, Novo Nordisk discovered that injecting its first GLP-1 drug, liraglutide, into rats caused them to nearly stop eating.

The company decided to study liraglutide as a diabetes drug and obesity drug. In 2010, it received U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approval for diabetes treatment. In 2014, the FDA approved another formulation for obesity, called Saxenda®. Since then, Novo Nordisk has created and marketed several GLP-1 weight-loss medications under various brand names.

Weight loss medication lawsuits against Novo Nordisk focus on the company’s alleged negligence in manufacturing, marketing, advertising, supplying, storing, transporting, packaging, selling and distributing GLP-1 drugs. The lawsuits also allege that Novo Nordisk knew the drugs were unsafe and failed to warn consumers or the healthcare community. This failure allegedly resulted in injuries and illnesses to the plaintiffs.

Ozempic lawsuit

Ozempic (semaglutide) is a once-weekly injectable drug approved for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes. The FDA approved the drug for this purpose in 2017. At that time, research also showed Ozempic caused 15% weight loss, three times as much as Saxenda, Novo Nordisk’s then current GLP-1 drug approved for obesity.

In 2018, Novo Nordisk began mentioning weight loss in Ozempic commercials even though the FDA had not approved the drug for this purpose. For the next five years, Novo Nordisk marketed the weight loss benefits of Ozempic, including placing thousands of ads on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. Since then, off-label prescribing of Ozempic for weight loss has increased. By 2023, it was estimated that one-third of people taking Ozempic had no history of Type 2 diabetes.

At the same time, Novo Nordisk hid information from consumers about the dangers of Ozempic. As early as 2014, the manufacturer knew that Ozempic’s predecessor, Saxenda, caused serious side effects and included warnings on the medication’s label. However, Novo Nordisk did not include the same warnings on Ozempic’s label.

For example, Ozempic’s label states under the “Mechanism of Action” section that the drug’s lowering of blood glucose levels involves a “minor delay in gastric emptying in the early postprandial phase.” Nowhere on the label does it mention delayed gastric emptying as ariskor discuss gastroparesis as a chronic condition linked to Ozempic.

Plaintiffs alleging injury by Ozempic are suing Novo Nordisk for making, marketing and selling a dangerous product and intentionally concealing information about its harmful effects. These Ozempic lawsuits claim that Novo Nordisk:

• Did not conduct sufficient studies, tests and clinical trials on Ozempic
• Did not disclose or warn about product defects to regulatory agencies, the medical community and consumers
• Failed to provide users with adequate instructions, guidelines and safety precautions
• Failed to place adequate warnings on Ozempic
• Represented Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs as safe for weight loss when it knew the products were not safe or approved for that purpose

Wegovy lawsuit

Wegovy and Ozempic are two drugs using the same active ingredient, semaglutide. The difference is that Wegovy is a higher dose approved for weight loss and treating obesity. Ozempic is only approved for treating Type 2 diabetes.

Wegovy lawsuits include very similar allegations against Novo Nordisk as Ozempic lawsuits. The plaintiffs have severe gastrointestinal problems, including intestinal blockages, obstructions and gastroparesis. These injuries were allegedly caused by the manufacturer’s products and failure to warn consumers.

Rybelsus lawsuit

Rybelsus, another brand name from Novo Nordisk for semaglutide, is an earlier version of Ozempic and Wegovy. It is a GLP-1 pill for Type 2 diabetes. The FDA has not approved it for weight loss. It is the only one of the three versions of semaglutide that comes in pill form.

As with Ozempic and Wegovy, weight loss pill lawsuits over Rybelsus claim severe injuries caused by serious& side effects of the drug, including vision changes, blood clots and gastrointestinal injuries.

Saxenda lawsuit

Saxenda (liraglutide) is yet another GLP-1 predecessor to Ozempic and& Wegovy. In 2014, the FDA approved Novo Nordisk's marketing and sale of this daily injectable to treat obesity. Saxenda lawsuits also address side effects like severe gastrointestinal issues and Novo Nordisk’s alleged failure to warn consumers.

Victoza® lawsuit

Victoza was Novo Nordisk’s first GLP-1 medication. It uses liraglutide, which is similar to semaglutide and was approved for diabetes in 2010. As a predecessor to Ozempic and Wegovy, it is also involved in lawsuits over weight loss drugs.

Eli Lilly is a pharmaceutical company that makes, markets and sells diabetes and weight loss drugs. It is a direct competitor of Novo Nordisk. It is facing similar legal battles for neglecting to inform patients and healthcare providers about the harmful side effects of its GLP-1 medications, including gastroparesis. 

Mounjaro lawsuit

Eli Lilly received FDA approval in 2022 for the GLP-1 agonist Mounjaro (tirzepatide) to treat Type 2 diabetes. At that time, the manufacturer provided the public with a safety summary and a link to the drug’s Medication Guide and Prescribing Information. These materials did not mention gastroparesis or gastrointestinal side effects as risks.

Like Ozempic, Mounjaro has never been approved by the FDA for weight loss, even though it is increasingly used for that purpose. Eli Lilly denies encouraging this off-label use.

Mounjaro lawsuits have been brought by plaintiffs with severe problems which they claim were caused by the drug. They also claim the company failed to warn consumers about these side effects.

Trulicity® lawsuit

Trulicity (dulaglutide) is a GLP-1 Type 2 diabetes drug made by Eli Lilly. Lawsuits address the company’s failure to warn about serious side effects, including liver and kidney disease, pancreatitis and gastroparesis.

Zepbound® lawsuit

Zepbound and Mounjaro are the same drug, tirzepatide, but the FDA has approved Zepbound for weight loss. Zepbound lawsuits address the same complaints as Mounjaro litigation.

Weight loss drug lawsuits have been consolidated in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania as part of an ongoing multidistrict litigation (MDL). The MDL includes GLP-1 lawsuits against all eight of the drugs mentioned above (Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus, Saxenda, Victoza, Mounjaro, Zepbound and Trulicity). As of December 2, 2024, over 1,300 GLP-1 lawsuits were pending in the MDL. 

Motley Rice currently represents plaintiffs in the MDL against Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly for injuries caused by these drugs. If you suffered injuries because of a weight loss drug made by Novo Nordisk or Eli Lilly, we may be able to help you take legal action. 

Motley Rice has a reputation for leadership roles in legal actions filed to protect consumers' rights. Our medical drug attorneys understand pharmaceutical drug cases and their complex legal, medical and scientific aspects. We know how to litigate cases for plaintiffs harmed by corporate negligence and actions that put profits over people. 

Our legal team has filed many prescription and over-the-counter drug lawsuits, including cases related to: 

• Syfovre
• Ozempic
• Wegovy
• Xeljanz® (tofacitinib) JAK Inhibitors
• Zantac (ranitidine)

Read more on our medical drug litigation experience.

Do not stop taking a prescribed medication without first consulting with your doctor. Discontinuing a prescribed medication without your doctor's advice can result in injury or death. Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus, Saxenda, Victoza, Mounjaro, Zepbound, Trulicity, Syfovre and Xeljanz remain approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.