What Is the Problem With Semaglutide?
Semaglutide is a prescription medication used for type 2 diabetes management, weight loss, and to minimize the risk of developing chronic kidney disease and severe cardiovascular conditions in some adult patients. It’s also used to treat and manage metabolic dysfunction associated steatohepatitis, without liver cirrhosis. Semaglutide is considered one of the most popular weight loss drugs and is widely prescribed as a weight management drug.
This glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) works similarly to the GLP-1 hormones that are naturally released after food intake, which helps regulate blood sugar and appetite. It reduces appetite by slowing gastric emptying, increasing insulin production, and decreasing the release of glucagon.
Semaglutide brand names are Rybelsus, Ozempic, and Wegovy, all manufactured by Novo Nordisk. Prescribed Ozempic is used for both diabetes and weight loss.
Unfortunately, recent scientific research has shown that taking Semaglutide, particularly high doses, can cause severe health conditions. Gastrointestinal injuries, such as gastroparesis and ileus, are among the most concerning side effects.
Until recently, the warning label for Semaglutide, like Ozempic and Wegovy, didn’t adequately warn consumers about the risks associated with these products.
You can contact a law firm for a free consultation if you believe you have a claim related to Semaglutide or other weight loss drugs.
What Are Semaglutide Weight Loss Drug Lawsuits?
Many of the Semaglutide lawsuits are part of a multi-district litigation involving similar drugs, known as GLP-1 receptor agonists. Defendants in the Semaglutide litigation include Novo Nordisk, which makes Rybelsus, Ozempic, and Wegovy, and Eli Lilly, which makes Mounjaro, Trulicity, and Zepbound. These lawsuits are being handled in both state and federal courts. The Ozempic MDL is part of a federal multidistrict litigation process overseen by a judicial panel.
All Semaglutide side effects lawsuits involve people who took one or more Semaglutide medications and developed severe side effects. Ozempic lawsuits, including those consolidated in the Ozempic MDL, allege serious injuries such as gastroparesis and NAION.
As of September 26, 2025, there’s no class action lawsuit against Novo Nordisk, the sole maker of Semaglutide in the United States.
Instead, patients who believe they developed unlisted side effects of Semaglutide should consider filing an individual Semaglutide side effects claim against Novo Nordisk. The giant pharmaceutical company is currently facing MDL 3094, a multidistrict litigation (MDL) case filed in the federal district court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The number of lawsuits filed continues to grow as more plaintiffs file an Ozempic lawsuit.
Why Patients Are Filing Semaglutide Lawsuits
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been alert about Semaglutide medications because of the reported health risks, including potential dangers for thyroid tumors and gastrointestinal problems. Recent regulatory approvals now allow healthcare providers to prescribe Ozempic for a broader range of conditions. This stresses the need to monitor and report any severe health risks experienced by patients taking the medications, underlining the value of accurate information about the possible dangers of pharmaceutical drugs.
Furthermore, Ozempic semaglutide legal claims focus on Novo Nordisk’s failure to sufficiently warn the public about the full range of dangers associated with its products. There is an increased risk of serious side effects, including drug induced pancreatitis, associated with semaglutide and other diabetes medications.
The European Medicines Agency has officially recognized NAION as a possible side effect, and further evidence from scientific research and the medical community has raised serious concerns about the safety of these drugs. The scrutiny of additional regulatory measures and FDA recalls can also act as a fundamental element in building a solid lawsuit when seeking retribution for injuries caused by the drugs.
After grasping the legal impacts surrounding GLP-1 RA medications, it becomes evident that these concerns aren’t restricted to individual Semaglutide lawsuits. Instead, they emphasize the duty of drug manufacturers and regulatory agencies to prioritize public safety and give complete disclosure concerning potential health dangers.
By reviewing these complicated legal concerns and comprehending the fundamental importance of FDA recalls and warnings, you can make an informed decision when seeking compensation for damages suffered after taking Semaglutide drugs.
Reported Side Effects Linked to GLP-1 Drugs
Your doctor will need to monitor your progress at regular visits to ensure the prescription medication is working effectively. Your doctor may perform urine and blood tests to detect unwanted effects.
Semaglutide might increase the risk of developing:
- Thyroid tumors: Notify your doctor immediately if you develop a lump or swelling in your neck or throat, have trouble breathing or swallowing, or if your voice becomes hoarse.
- Pancreatitis: Your pancreas might swell while using Semaglutide. Notify your doctor immediately if you experience chills, sudden and severe stomach pains, nausea, constipation, fever, vomiting, or dizziness.
- Diabetic retinopathy: If you experience blurred vision or sudden changes in your vision, consult your doctor immediately.
- Kidney problems: Notify your doctor immediately if you have decreased urine output, bloody urine, nausea, muscle twitching, seizures, unusual fatigue or weakness, rapid weight gain, stupor, swelling of the ankles, face, or hands.
- Allergic reactions: Notify your doctor immediately if you have itching, rash, trouble breathing, hoarseness, swelling in the face, hands, throat, or mouth, or difficulty swallowing after using the medication.
- High blood sugar (hyperglycemia): May occur if you skip your medication or don’t take enough medication, overeat, have an infection or fever, or exercise less than usual after taking the drug.
- Gallbladder disease: Added to the warning label in 2022.
- Illeus: Added to the warning label in September 2023.
- Gastroenteritis: Not included on the warning label.
- Intestinal blockages: Not included on the warning label.
- Stomach paralysis or gastroparesis: Not included on the warning label.
- Deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism: Not included on the warning label.
- Intraoperative pulmonary aspiration: Not included on the warning label.
Gastrointestinal disorders are among the most serious risks associated with Semaglutide and similar medications.
Patients who experienced some of these side effects, including gastroparesis, intestinal obstruction, and ileus, after taking Semaglutide medications are now filing Semaglutide side effects lawsuits. Common symptoms of gastroparesis and stomach paralysis include abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and bloating.
Semaglutide lawsuits against Novo Nordisk can help you recover monetary compensation to cover medical bills, lost income, and even raise public awareness to prevent others from experiencing similar injuries. Ongoing medical treatment and medical treatment are often required for these conditions, and gastroparesis claims are a significant part of the litigation.
Semaglutide Lawsuits Status: Multidistrict Litigation
Since the first Semaglutide medication was approved in 2005, consumers and pharmaceutical companies have witnessed many changes: compounding, shortages, and thousands of cases from patients who developed adverse side effects, including bowel obstruction, gastroparesis, and even vision loss, after using this medication.
As of September 21, 2025, complainants have faced a mounting battle proving that stomach paralysis (gastroparesis) was worsened or directly caused by Semaglutide products, including Ozempic and Wegovy, rather than being a preexisting condition of underlying diabetes.
The focus of Semaglutide lawsuits has since shifted to non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), a rare eye condition that causes vision loss. NAION lawsuits are now a major focus, with plaintiffs alleging sudden blindness and permanent vision loss due to damage to the optic nerve.
The lawsuits have been consolidated into multidistrict litigation (MDL) No. 3094 In Re: Glucagon-like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists (GLP-1 RAS) Product Liability Litigation in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
On September 17, 2025, attorneys in the Ozempic Semaglutide legal claims jointly proposed a Case Management Order that would adopt the Short Form Complaint and Master Complaint system. This strategy streamlines legal claims and is often favorable to claimants. The short form enables both new and existing plaintiffs to file claims more easily, eliminating the need to restate every factual claim. Vision loss claims are being filed more and more as more Ozempic lawsuits emerge.
On September 11, 2025, Eli Lilly filed a motion to centralize all federal cases claiming vision loss from Semaglutide drugs, particularly lawsuits involving NAION. The motion either seeks the centralization of these NAION claims into the existing MDL 3094 or the creation of a new multidistrict litigation, called GLP-1 RAS Products Liability Ligation II.
On August 15, 2025, Honorable Judge Karen S. Marston made two critical rulings that will determine the future of the Semaglutide litigation, which includes over 2,000 claims against Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk. The judge resolved several Daubert motions by stating that the complainants’ stomach paralysis lawsuits must be supported by objective medical testing. That means every complainant alleging to have developed gastroparesis must prove that their medical diagnosis is based on a valid gastric emptying study.
This might reduce the number of viable claims, which is unfair, as some may argue. However, it also clarifies the evidentiary loops that attorneys and their clients need to navigate, and forces manufacturers to confront complainants armed with substantial diagnostic evidence. In cases involving vision loss, optic nerve damage and the role of medical and scientific issues are central to establishing causation.
On August 5, 2025, Novo Nordisk filed 14 new cases to protect consumers from unsafe, unapproved compounded medications that are alleged to contain Semaglutide. Defendants named in those cases use approaches that deceive consumers into believing compounded drugs are FDA-approved or have similar safety and effectiveness as Novo Nordisk’s approved Semaglutide medications. But those unapproved knockoffs haven’t been approved as safe and effective, and they contain illicit foreign active pharmaceutical ingredients.
If you used Ozempic and other GLP drugs and later developed adverse health risks, including gastroparesis, bowel blockage, or even vision loss, you may be entitled to financial compensation to cover your damages, including medical bills, lost income, and emotional distress.
Potential Settlement Amounts in Ozempic and Other Semaglutide Drugs Lawsuit Cases
Estimating the potential Semaglutide lawsuit settlement is almost impossible. Many of these lawsuits are still ongoing, and at this point, it’s daunting to know how scientific research behind these lawsuits will hold up in courts. This is a fundamental variable in any lawsuit involving defective medication.
Based on educated assumptions from attorneys involved in similar lawsuits, a successful Semaglutide lawsuit could result in a settlement amount ranging between $100,000 and $500,000. That’s the settlement estimate for the “top tier” Semaglutide claims, which involve claimants who developed severe health complications or even died. Medical expenses and ongoing medical treatment are major components of compensation in these cases.
However, that’s the best case scenario. The average Semaglutide lawsuit compensation might be lower. These types of lawsuits may be valued between $50,000 and $100,000. Of course, these assumptions assume the presiding judge will allow stomach paralysis lawsuits to move forward. The unfortunate reality is that many attorneys doubt that.
How to File a Semaglutide Lawsuit
Let’s go over the procedure involved in filing a Semaglutide lawsuit:
- Contacting a personal injury attorney: Before taking legal action, you must first consult a skilled attorney. An attorney can determine your eligibility to file a lawsuit regarding Semaglutide side effects and discuss the available legal options. Ozempic attorneys and law firms play a crucial role in representing clients in cases involving popular weight loss drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and others.
- Collecting evidence: Collecting important medical documents is crucial in building a solid case. These documents may include doctors’ notes, diagnostic test results, hospital records, prescription records, pharmacy receipts, and any documented severe reactions or dangers linked to Semaglutide. Medical records are especially important in supporting claims related to taking Ozempic, as they provide evidence for conditions such as NAION, gastroparesis, or other injuries. Additionally, gathering all physical evidence, including labeling and packaging associated with the medicine, can strengthen your allegations.
- Filing a claim: After gathering comprehensive evidence, your lawyer will file a lawsuit in court on your behalf. The lawsuit outlines the allegations arising from your experience after taking Semaglutide, as well as the amount of damages incurred. Ozempic gastroparesis lawsuits and vision loss lawsuits are major parts of the ongoing litigation, focusing on injuries and adverse effects linked to taking Ozempic. This crucial step launches the legal process and kick-starts the legal proceedings.
- Discovery process: After filing your Ozempic claim, both parties involved in the lawsuit exchange information, collect evidence, and conduct thorough investigations to strengthen their corresponding cases. The discovery process may also encompass interrogations, depositions, requests for documents, and expert testimonies. All this is geared towards uncovering key details correlated to your claims against the makers of Semaglutide. Throughout this key step, your lawyer will advocate for your rights, presenting relevant information supporting your claims within the bounds of the law.
- Settlement or trial: There are two possible outcomes in a Semaglutide lawsuit. Based on factors such as the strength of the evidence collected and the parties’ readiness to negotiate, settlement discussions may arise. If a settlement is deemed unsatisfactory or isn’t achievable, the lawsuit then proceeds before a judge. The outcome of a trial depends on how persuasive each party’s case is and whether there’s sufficient evidence to prove liability for the injuries caused by Semaglutide.
Conclusion
Navigating these essential steps requires perseverance, diligence, and a solid understanding of the law. However, having a skilled lawyer by your side can provide invaluable support throughout the complex legal process.
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