Lawsuits over GLP‑1 harms

Thousands of patients are now suing over glucagon-like peptide 1 drugs, saying the makers did not adequately warn about severe injuries including bowel blockages and sudden vision loss. (jpml.uscourts.gov) These medicines copy a gut hormone that helps control blood sugar and appetite, and the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation centralized the main stomach-and-bowel cases in February 2024 in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania as MDL No. 3094. The panel said those cases allege gastroparesis, ileus, intestinal obstruction, pseudo-obstruction, and other gastrointestinal injuries tied to drugs including Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus, Trulicity, and Mounjaro. (jpml.uscourts.gov) The litigation widened again in December 2025, when the panel added Saxenda gastrointestinal-injury claims to MDL No. 3094. In the same round of orders, the panel refused to fold in blood-clot claims, saying new injury theories could make the case “procedurally and substantively unwieldy.” (jpml.uscourts.gov, jpml.uscourts.gov) A separate federal multidistrict litigation opened in December 2025 for eye-injury claims involving non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, a condition caused by reduced blood flow to the optic nerve. The panel said 21 actions were already pending in three districts, with nine related cases identified, and sent that docket to the same Pennsylvania court as MDL No. 3163. (jpml.uscourts.gov) The eye cases grew after a July 2024 JAMA Ophthalmology study reported a potential association between semaglutide and non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy. Later papers did not all point the same way: one 2025 JAMA Ophthalmology study in patients with diabetes found an association, while a 2026 conference report summarized by Healio said semaglutide was not linked to higher risk in patients with overweight or obesity. (jamanetwork.com, jamanetwork.com, healio.com) The warning labels have also changed as the drugs spread to millions of users. The current Wegovy label says the drug delays stomach emptying and lists “severe gastrointestinal adverse reactions” as a warning, and the current Mounjaro label says severe gastrointestinal reactions occurred more often in trials than with placebo and says the drug is not recommended in patients with severe gastroparesis. (accessdata.fda.gov, accessdata.fda.gov) Ozempic’s label was updated in 2023 after the Food and Drug Administration approved changes tied to ileus, a slowing or stopping of intestinal movement that can lead to blockage. Current Food and Drug Administration labeling databases say they carry the latest company-submitted labels, though older label files remain archived on the agency’s site. (accessdata.fda.gov, fda.gov) Drugmakers have disputed broad claims that the medicines were defectively sold. The Judicial Panel’s orders show Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have fought over which claims belong in which federal dockets, while the Food and Drug Administration has separately said it can still act against compounded semaglutide or tirzepatide products that are unsafe or substandard even after shortages eased in 2025. (jpml.uscourts.gov, fda.gov) What happens next is less about one verdict than about sorting the injuries into separate tracks. Federal judges are now running one Pennsylvania docket for stomach-and-bowel claims and another for optic-nerve claims, while the science and the warning labels keep moving underneath both. (jpml.uscourts.gov, jpml.uscourts.gov)