Weight loss drugs like Ozempic might be increasing in popularity, but how safe are they? As of this month, nearly 4,500 lawsuits have been filed by patients who said they have experienced severe side effects from (GLP-1) medications.
These drugs were first used to treat diabetes and the include the names Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound. They work by increasing the amount of insulin the body makes and decreasing gastric emptying. People on the drugs typically fell full faster and longer, thus leading to weight loss.
By last November, one in eight U.S. adults said they were taking a GLP-1 medication for weight loss, per the Kaiser Family Foundation. Audacy even reported that packaging trends this year are expected to be influenced by the increase in GLP-1 use. This year, the first GLP-1 pills were released and access to the medications is expected to expand.
Research published Wednesday by the JAMA journal indicated that obesity cases in the U.S. increased from 19.3% in 1990 to 42.5% in 2022, with the percentage expected to increase to nearly 47% by 2035. USA Today noted that the dawn of GLP-1 drugs also came with a drop in U.S. obesity rates for the first time in decades.
Drug makers acknowledge that there are some risks that come along with the weight loss results these medications offer. For example, Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic lists possible thyroid tumors (including cancer) as a potential “serious side effect” of the medication.
According to a Wednesday report from USA Today, patients who have filed lawsuits over GLP-1 drugs include: a Maryland truck driver who was blinded by an “eye stroke,” a Louisiana woman who vomited for weeks and was then diagnosed with a brain dysfunction, and an Oklahoma real estate agent who said her colon “literally blew up,” as she drove her granddaughter home from a softball game.
DrugWatch also noted that there were thousands of lawsuits related to GLP-1 dugs as of this month. It said injures claimed include severe gastroparesis, also known as stomach paralysis, impaired bowel function, intestinal obstruction and permanent vision loss from non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION).
Last month, national law firm Parker Waichman said in a press release that it had filed multiple lawsuits related to patients developing NAION after taking Ozempic or Wegovy. It said the most recent suit was filed on Christmas Eve on behalf of a Philadelphia, Pa. resident who developed NAION after taking Ozempic.
“At least 4,400 patients have file[d] lawsuits that are now part of consolidated federal and state litigation, numbers that are expected to grow as part of legal challenges expected to take several years,” since cases against the medications were first filed in 2023, USA Today said this week. Denmark-based Novo Nordisk – maker of Ozempic and Wegovy – is target by the suits, as well as Indiana-based Eli Lilly, maker of Mounjaro and Zepbound.
USA Today noted that the companies “have broadly refuted the allegations, and said they will vigorously defend the drugs’ safety.”