Pharmaceutical companies behind hit weight-loss drugs could face up to 10,000 lawsuits from patients who claim the drugs caused debilitating side effects such as stomach paralysis and “holes” in the esophagus.
Ozempic and its sister injections, such as Wegovy and Mounjaro, have recently come under fire over claims that the injections cause a number of complications that patients were allegedly not warned about.
One woman told DailyMail.com she suffered life-threatening stomach paralysis after taking Mounjaro, and has now joined a massive lawsuit against its manufacturer Eli Lilly and Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk. She claims that she may never eat a solid meal again.
Another said Ozempic caused so much internal damage that he had to have his gallbladder removed, while another said the drug caused vomiting so violent that it tore a hole in his esophagus.
Now, Robert Peirce & Associates, a Pittsburgh-based law firm, estimates the number of plaintiffs could rise to as many as 10,000, the firm told a local media outlet. Total Tribe Media.
Lawyers estimate there could be as many as 10,000 lawsuits against drug makers such as Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly over side effects from the successful weight-loss injections.
Meredith Hotchkiss (left), 56, told DailyMail.com her life has been “devastated” by the alleged side effects of weight loss drug Mounjaro. Dina Fioretti (right), 60, of Illinois, said Ozempic made her vomit so much that she tore a hole in her esophagus.
Ozempic and Wegovy contain the active ingredient semaglutide. This mimics the hormone GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide 1), which slows the movement of food through the digestive system, signaling to the body that it is full.
Meanwhile, Mounjaro and Zepbound use the active ingredient tirzepatide, which targets GLP-1 and the hormone glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP), which has a similar hunger-suppressing effect.
Wegovy and Zepbound are the only two approved by the FDA only for weight loss, while the others should only be taken to manage type 2 diabetes.
However, some may be prescribed for off-label uses or for other purposes beyond FDA approval, such as to help people lose weight.
All of the medications have been praised for helping patients control their appetite and lose weight quickly, but the team at Robert Peirce & Associates warns that lawyers are now seeing an increase in multidistrict litigation (MDL) cases related to the medications.
An MDL is a lawsuit made up of multiple civil cases that share common issues.
In addition to the lawsuits, some patients have also claimed that the medications caused suicidal thoughts, psychosis, and appearance problems such as deflated breasts.
“Unfortunately, the manufacturers of Ozempic and other GLP-1 agonists did not adequately warn about the associated risks,” the Robert Peirce & Associates team wrote.
The team pointed to an MDL filed in February in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (which includes Philadelphia), which combined 55 lawsuits alleging that Ozempic and similar drugs caused gastrointestinal injuries such as intestinal blockages and stomach paralysis.
According to the Claims Information Center, as of June 3, there are 101 cases pending in the Ozempic MDL, including a dozen that were added in May.
Mrs Hotchkiss, pictured with her husband, now fears she will never be able to eat solid food again after being diagnosed with gastroparesis.
Zakareeya Gregory (left) was hospitalized for four weeks and had her gallbladder removed due to complications reportedly caused by the use of Ozempic. Brea Hand, 23, told DailyMail.com that she needed five hospital visits before doctors diagnosed her with gastroparesis, supposedly caused by Ozempic.
Stomach paralysis, or gastroparesis, occurs when the stomach cannot empty properly. GLP-1 agonists like Ozempic slow stomach emptying so patients feel full for longer, which could increase the risk of the condition.
While the condition itself is not fatal, gastroparesis has been shown to cause life-threatening intestinal blockages and severe nutrient deficiencies.
Meredith Hotchkiss, 56, of Idaho, joined nearly 100 patients in a lawsuit against Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk after she was diagnosed with gastroparesis.
Hotchkiss had been taking Mounjaro and Trulicity, another Eli Lilly shot for type 2 diabetes. He was prescribed Mounjaro from July 2022 to approximately June 2023. He was also briefly prescribed Trulicity from December 2022 to March 2023.
Although he has diabetes, his condition is “well controlled,” so he was given unapproved weight-loss medications. “I thought if I could lose weight and get Mounjaro then I might try it because everyone is doing it,” he previously told DailyMail.com.
‘The doctor told me I could lose weight and that it works very well. He said I would be very sick for four weeks and then after four weeks I would feel much better.’
Within weeks of starting the medications, her condition deteriorated and she could not stomach anything but cottage cheese, macaroni and cheese, and yogurt.
Ms. Hotchkiss had a central line, a tube inserted into a vein, to deliver liquid food directly into the bloodstream. She has also been hospitalized three times, including for life-threatening sepsis.
The side effects changed his life and prevented him from doing the things he loves. Doctors also told her that she can no longer travel abroad due to her health conditions.
‘I don’t know how to swim, I can’t get in the water. I love swimming, I have a boat, I can’t get in the water at all. I loved swimming in the ocean,” she said.
‘It affects me socially, because you go out with your friends and what do you do? You go out to dinner, or you go to barbecues… all parties, everything revolves around food.
“The other thing I worry about is whether I’ll live long enough to pay for my husband’s house, because I worry about him.”
Zakareeya Gregory, 46, of Maryland, said she had to have her gallbladder removed seven months after starting Ozempic. She alleges that drugs may be to blame.
Dina Fioretti, 60, from Illinois, told DailyMail.com that she is suing Novo Norisk after Ozempic allegedly made her vomit so much that it tore a hole in her esophagus.
Jessica Dennis, a mother of four who currently lives in South Dakota, said her breasts shrank while taking Ozempic.
Attorney Ken Moll, president of Moll Law Group, which filed Fioretti’s complaint, told DailyMail.com that his firm plans to add 100 more cases to the litigation, and is one of several across the country investigating claims from thousands of patients. further.
Moll said it was “unconscionable” that companies had not yet added warnings to their labels about the risk of gastroparesis and stomach paralysis.
Cameron Stephenson, a lawyer at Levin Papantonio Rafferty, told DailyMail.com that his firm currently has around 100 clients who were diagnosed with gastroparesis after using the drugs, and is investigating 1,000 more.
“I have no doubt that over time there will be thousands of cases filed in the CDM,” said Stephenson, who raised the possibility that the number could be in the tens of thousands.
Eli Lilly said in a statement: “Patient safety is Lilly’s top priority and we are actively involved in monitoring, evaluating and reporting on the safety of all of our medicines.”
‘Our FDA-approved labels clearly warn that tirzepatide and dulaglutide may be associated with gastrointestinal adverse reactions, sometimes serious.
‘The labels further indicate that tirzepatide and dulaglutide have not been studied in patients with severe gastrointestinal diseases, including severe gastroparesis, and are therefore not recommended in these patients.
‘These risks were communicated and widely known by healthcare providers. “We are vigorously defending ourselves against these claims.”
Little research has been done so far on the long-term side effects of these weight loss medications.
Novo Nordisk said: ‘Novo Nordisk believes that the allegations in these lawsuits are without merit and we intend to vigorously defend against these claims.
‘Patient safety is our top priority at Novo Nordisk and we work closely with the US Food and Drug Administration to continually monitor the safety profile of our medicines.
‘GLP-1 drugs have been used to treat type 2 diabetes (T2D) for more than 18 years and for the treatment of obesity for 8 years. This includes Novo Nordisk GLP-1 products, such as semaglutide and liraglutide, which have been on the market for more than 13 years.
‘Semaglutide has been extensively examined in robust clinical development programs, large real-world evidence studies and has accumulated more than 9.5 million patient-years of clinical experience in total.
‘The known risks and benefits of the drugs semaglutide and liraglutide are described in the FDA-approved product label.
“Novo Nordisk stands behind the safety and effectiveness of all of our GLP-1 medications when used as directed and when taken under the care of a licensed healthcare professional.”