Ozempic Manufacturer Novo Nordisk Faces Lawsuits Over Alleged Vision Loss Side Effect
Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of the GLP-1 medication Ozempic, is facing over 200 lawsuits in the U.S. from individuals claiming the drug caused partial blindness. One such plaintiff, Jay Vandegriff, was prescribed Ozempic in 2023 for type 2 diabetes and experienced a sudden loss of vision on Christmas Day 2024, leading to a diagnosis of non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION). NAION is an optic nerve stroke caused by reduced blood flow, resulting in sudden and often irreversible vision loss. Vandegriff's legal team, Weitz & Luxenberg, states that the risk of NAION was not listed on the U.S. label for Ozempic when he was taking it. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced that GLP-1 medicines must now carry a warning about a potential increased risk of NAION, months after the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued a similar safety update.
