A Pennsylvania woman is suing the maker of Ozempic after a near-death experience she blames on the drug.
Juanita Gantt, a 62-year-old diabetic, was doing well on the medication for months until she suddenly collapsed at home and was found unconscious by her husband.
Parts of his intestine had died due to a condition called ischemic colitis, so doctors had to remove his colon. He later went into cardiac arrest and his heart stopped.
Now, without a colon, you will need to use a drainage bag for the rest of your life to go to the bathroom.
Doctors suspect the weight-loss drug may have caused blood vessels in the abdomen to constrict, reducing blood flow to the colon. That lack of oxygenated blood flow hampers the intestines’ ability to function properly, slowing the movement of food through the digestive tract and causing tissue to wither and die.
She is suing the pharmaceutical giant for what she contends was a failure to warn people about this risk, which has been identified in a small number of patients taking Ozempic, Wegovy and other similar weight-loss injections.
Juanita Gantt was found unconscious by her husband Robert one day in October 2023 and rushed to the hospital to discover she had a severe case of colitis requiring removal of her colon.
Mrs. Gant always struggled with her weight, but was only able to lose a maximum of 20 pounds with traditional diet and exercise plans.
Given her family history of diabetes, her doctor considered her a strong candidate for Wegovy and later Olympic, which was first approved to treat type 2 diabetes.
For several months he was losing weight and feeling good.
She said CBS:I felt good. I enjoyed the days when I didn’t have to worry about my appetite. I didn’t have cravings. I just felt like I was doing something positive for myself.
But his health deteriorated suddenly and without warning.
After collapsing in October 2023 and being rushed to hospital, doctors discovered that parts of her intestine had withered and died, a side effect of ischemic colitis.
Ischemic colitis occurs when blood flow to the colon is reduced, depriving the tissue of oxygen and causing it to die.
Wegovy and Ozempic contain the same ingredient, semaglutide, which slows the rate at which food empties from the stomach.
While this may make you feel fuller for longer, making you less likely to take in extra calories that pack on the pounds, doctors are beginning to see that this slower emptying could also contribute to a slower-moving GI tract.
Ms Gantt, pictured here with her husband Robert, is suing pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk over what she alleges was the company’s failure to adequately test and warn about potentially serious gastrointestinal problems such as intestinal blockages and colitis.
Reports of serious gastrointestinal disorders only emerged after the drugs were approved about three years ago.
So far, about 20 cases of intestinal obstruction, also called ileus, have been reported by patients to the FDA’s voluntary adverse reaction reporting service.
But scientists are still not sure what causes the drug to disrupt intestinal motility so much that food cannot pass through the intestines.
Dr. Dan Azagury, chief of bariatric surgery at Stanford University, saying:'(Semaglutide) is a gut hormone. All of the well-known and common side effects are related to the gastrointestinal tract. One of its mechanisms is to reduce the speed at which the stomach empties. Therefore, it falls within the scope of the functions that we know of this drug.’
Mrs Gantt had to undergo emergency surgery to remove her colon. After the operation, her heart stopped and she had to be resuscitated. All the while, doctors thought she was going to die and called her daughter to tell her so.
“It breaks my heart that my daughter received that phone call,” Ms. Gantt said, holding back tears.
She added: “I had no warning that this was even a possibility.”
Ms. Gantt is taking Novo Nordisk to court over what she alleges was a failure by the company to adequately warn the 15 million Americans who have used the drugs that they face the risk of serious gastrointestinal problems.
His lawyer, Parvin Aminolroaya, said: ‘He has invested a lot of resources in marketing the drug, hundreds of millions of dollars to expand the market and get new patients for the drug, but he has not spent that money to warn patients about the risk of gastroparesis, ileus, small bowel obstruction and the fact that these injuries can be serious, even if it is a rare case. ‘
According to the lawsuit, Ozempic and Wegovy “had not been sufficiently and/or adequately evaluated to determine the safety risks, including intestinal obstruction, ischemic colitis, malnutrition and their sequelae.”
If that had been the case, the lawsuit continues, Ms. Gantt would not have taken any of the medications.
Novo Nordisk has insisted that allegations it failed to warn patients about serious side effects, which could put them at risk, are false and will be challenged in court.
This is not the first time Novo Nordisk has faced a legal battle with patients for failing to warn them about serious health events.
Earlier this year, DailyMail.com reviewed dozens of lawsuits filed by people who had suffered greatly, mostly due to gastroparesis, or stomach paralysis.
The potentially life-threatening condition causes a buildup of food in the intestine and symptoms include nausea, vomiting and severe pain.
All of the lawsuits accuse Novo Nordisk of failing to adequately warn about the risk of gastroparesis on its drug packaging.
In a statement to CBS about the latest lawsuit and the series of lawsuits that preceded it, Novo Nordisk spokespeople said: “The known risks and benefits of the drugs semaglutide and liraglutide are described in the FDA-approved product labeling… the allegations in the lawsuits are without merit.”