Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog
Ozempic Gastro Effects. The weight-loss injectable medications are on track for another bumper growth this year, with some experts predicting that 15 million Americans will be on these types of drugs by 2030. But blockbuster success is not without its price.
Ozempic Gastro Effects can be serious including stomach paralysis, ileus or small intestine blockage, and the need for painful expensive surgery. Injured? Call Dr. Shezad Malik at 214-390-3189
Heavy Advertisement Barrage
Although advertisements tout these drugs as both safe and effective, with few long-term side effects, some patients are now pursuing Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro lawsuits against the manufacturers, each raising similar allegations that the drug labels fail to adequately warn about the risk of severe and long-lasting side effects, including a form of severe stomach paralysis, known as gastroparesis.
What is Ozempic?
Ozempic (semaglutide) was approved by the FDA, for the treatment of people with Type 2 diabetes, and an interesting side effect was noted, patients lost weight while on the medication.
Since that discovery, with aggressive advertisements promoting the weight loss benefits, Ozempic has been pushed as a miracle diet drug in recent years, making it a blockbuster treatment for weight loss that is now used by millions of Americans.
Since Ozempic for weight loss sales exceeded Novo Nordisk’s expectations, the company then released a higher dose version under the brand name Wegovy, which is specifically approved by the FDA as a diet drug.
Novo Nordisk’s competitor Eli Lilly has also released competing weight loss drugs in the form of Mounjaro (tirzepatide), approved for diabetes treatment in 2022, and a weight loss version of the drug Zepbound was approved by the FDA last year.
These drugs belong to a class known as GLP-1 receptor agonists.
Ozempic Gastro Effects
I am providing this update on the status of the injectable weight loss drugs and their gastrointestinal (GI) side effects.
Case in point, a Louisiana woman who was prescribed Ozempic and Mounjaro sued both companies, claiming they failed to inform her about the risks of the drugs and severe GI problems. According to the woman she was hospitalized several times for stomach paralysis and vomited so violently she lost her teeth.
Recently, a 47-year-old woman from West Virginia sued Novo Nordisk, claiming that while using Ozempic she developed a life-threatening bowel injury for which she had to undergo emergency surgery.
According to the lawsuit, doctors told her that her abdominal pain would be permanent as a result of surgical scarring and she would not have a solid bowel movement “for the rest of her life.”
In another case, a woman who vomited so much after using Ozempic that she suffered a torn esophagus. Dina Fioretti, 60, from Illinois, has sued Novo Nordisk over claims Ozempic triggered extreme vomiting, pain and a blocked bowel. Fioretti developed a Mallory-Weiss tear, the medical term for a torn esophagus, because of the vomiting and spent a week in hospital.
Fioretti’s lawsuit was filed in the Northern District of Illinois on January 25. The complaint states that she used Ozempic for diabetes and weight loss from July 2021 until January 2022. She blames the drug for causing an ileus.
Other cases include a woman who will suffer diarrhea forever after using Ozempic and a man whose intestine was partially removed after the drug allegedly caused life-threatening stomach paralysis.
What is Gastroparesis?
Gastroparesis is a condition in which your stomach empties at a slower rate than normal. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, feelings of early fullness, and weight loss.
These diabetic medications induce gastroparesis and that is the principal mechanism by which patients lose weight. They reduce the transition of food through the gut, leading to the sensation of fullness. Also eating large portions, high-fat and high-fiber meals, which naturally take longer to digest, while taking the drugs may exacerbate symptoms of gastroparesis.
While delayed stomach emptying is the primary effect of Ozempic and similar drugs, in severe cases the stomach muscles stop working completely. In life-threatening conditions, there may be stomach or bowel perforation from food being stuck in the GI tract.
FDA Ileus Warning
The FDA did add a warning about ileus to Ozempic’s label in September 2023, after patients reported 33 cases of ileus, including two deaths. Mounjaro and Wegovy already had warnings about ileus.
If there is an untreated GI blockage then nothing can pass through your intestines. This blockage is potentially fatal, and can lead to potential bowel tissue death or infection. If a patient has surgery to remove the obstructed portion of the intestine, it can lead to scar tissue, a risk factor for developing further obstructions. Removing a large segment of the intestine can also lead to malabsorption issues.
Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro Lawsuits
Earlier in February, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) issued a transfer order, which assigned all gastroparesis lawsuits involving any GLP1 medications to U.S. District Judge Gene E.K. Pratter in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Similarly affected and injured patients have filed lawsuits and the latest tally is about 100 lawsuits on file. The lawsuits allege, that Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, the manufacturers of Ozempic and Mounjaro, failed to disclose the risk of developing severe and life-threatening GI side effects.
The existing filings and any future lawsuits over the side effects will now be part of a multidistrict litigation, or MDL, which will allow Pratter to issue rulings and make decisions that apply to all the cases.
Injured or have questions about Ozempic, Wegovy or Mounjaro?
Did you or a loved one experience gastrointestinal or gastroparesis injuries after taking Ozempic, Wegovy or Mounjaro? Dr. Shezad Malik law firm based in Dallas, Texas is now reviewing injuries after taking Ozempic, Wegovy, or other GLP-1 agonists cases nationwide. Please call 214-390-3189 or email us for further information.
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Lawsuit claims Ozempic and Mounjaro Cause Severe Gastroparesis