The litany of grim medical conditions allegedly caused by Ozempic and similar weight-loss drugs are laid bare in a landmark court case that claims thousands of patients have suffered life-threatening side effects.
Some users have become bedridden after taking the drugs, while others are in constant pain and may never eat solid food again.
A patient who used Mounjaro, Eli Lilly’s flagship diabetes and weight loss drug, told DailyMail.com that she can no longer consume solid foods and will likely receive nutrition and fluids through a tube directly into her small intestine. for the rest of his life.
“It’s devastated my life,” said Meredith Hotchkiss, 56.
Conditions related to Ozempic, Mounjaro and similar medications include gastroparesis, intestinal obstruction, and intestinal obstruction. Lawyers allege that the drugs have also caused “malnutrition, dehydration, neurological disorders and even death.”
Meredith Hotchkiss, 56, told DailyMail.com that her life has been “devastated” by the alleged side effects of the Mounjaro weight loss drug. She said the medication caused stomach paralysis and she may never eat solid food again.
Hotchkiss, pictured with her husband James, gets most of her fluids and nutrients through an intravenous tube and another tube in her small intestine.
Hotchkiss is one of nearly 100 patients who have joined the legal action against the drug makers. Thousands more patients who also suffered extreme side effects are expected to join the legal action as it progresses, lawyers say.
Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, the Danish company that makes Ozempic and Wegovy, are accused of failing to warn patients and doctors about certain side effects caused by the drugs.
Both companies have said they will “vigorously defend against these claims” and deny the allegations in the lawsuits.
DailyMail.com revealed in January that patients across the United States have filed lawsuits against Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, including one woman who will suffer from diarrhea forever after using Ozempic.
The cases have now been combined into multidistrict litigation, which is similar to a class action lawsuit.
A new case file lists the “most common types of injuries” and offers several examples of patients who were hospitalized or left permanently ill.
Hotchkiss, a nurse from Meridian, Idaho, was diagnosed with gastroparesis, a condition also known as stomach paralysis, after using Mounjaro and Trulicity, another Eli Lilly weight-loss drug, according to the filing.
He has not eaten properly since last February and now relies on intravenous nutrition and a feeding tube in his small intestine because he can no longer consume solid foods.
“I’m angry,” she told DailyMail.com. ‘When we look at the side effects, it doesn’t say gastroparesis.
‘My doctor didn’t tell me gastroparesis. And you see (companies) just pushing these drugs, even Weight Watchers as a program, they’re pushing these drugs.
“It scares me that we don’t know the long-term effects and we don’t know how people will react.”
Medications like Ozempic, produced by Novo Nordisk, contain semaglutide, which mimics a hormone in the brain that regulates appetite.
Mounjaro, a diabetes and weight loss drug made by Eli Lilly, works similarly to Ozempic
Hotchkiss was prescribed Mounjaro from July 2022 to approximately June 2023. He was also briefly prescribed Trulicity from December 2022 to March 2023.
You have diabetes, but the condition is “well controlled” and the medications are off-label for weight loss.
‘My diabetes is very well controlled. But I thought if I could lose weight and get Mounjaro, then I might try it because everyone is doing it,” she said.
‘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.’
After four weeks using Mounjaro, Hotchkiss was “bloated, not very hungry.” She briefly stopped using the drug due to insurance issues, but restarted it in early 2023 and combined it with a “whole-food, plant-based diet.”
Meredith Hotchkiss, pictured with her husband, said the side effects of Mounjaro have been devastating.
His condition deteriorated rapidly and he developed gastroparesis.
‘When I started again, I couldn’t eat anything but cottage cheese, macaroni and cheese, or yogurt. Even though I was relying on whole foods, I couldn’t tolerate anything,” she said.
‘In April I went to (a gastroenterologist) and he told me that I had terrible gastritis and duodenitis (inflammation in the small intestine) and that everything was inflamed. He did a gastric emptying study on me and it showed that he had the most severe form of gastroparesis.’
Hotchkiss was placed with a central line, which is a tube inserted into a vein to deliver nutrition directly into the bloodstream, along with tubes to the stomach and small intestine.
She has also been hospitalized three times due to the ordeal, including for life-threatening sepsis.
Hotchkiss said he lost some weight after using the drugs, but now his weight has stabilized as his body has gone into “starvation mode” and is “holding on to every calorie,” he said.
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.”
Dina Fioretti, 60, of Illinois, is suing Novo Nordisk for claiming that Ozempic caused extreme vomiting, pain and intestinal obstruction. The vomiting was so extreme that he tore his esophagus.
Zakareeya Gregory was hospitalized for four weeks and had her gallbladder removed due to complications allegedly caused by the use of Ozempic.
Lawyers say Hotchkiss’ ordeal is far from unique.
Recent court filings refer to another patient, Delisa Jones, who “took Ozempic for a few months before experiencing severe vomiting and gastrointestinal burning, which caused gastroparesis.”
Jones “requires medication to relieve vomiting and suffers from severe and ongoing stomach pain that has left her essentially bedridden.”
The filing also refers to Billie Farley, who DailyMail.com previously reported “will never have a solid bowel movement again” due to complications allegedly caused by Ozempic.
Other patients have also told DailyMail.com about the horrible consequences.
Zakareeya Gregory, 46, of Walker Mill, Maryland, said she had her gallbladder removed after suffering side effects allegedly caused by Ozempic, which she used for seven months until February 2020.
Dina Fioretti said Ozempic made her vomit so much that she suffered a tear in her esophagus and spent a week in the hospital.
The companies are accused of failing to properly label the products’ side effects and of attempting to “minimize the severity of gastroparesis symptoms and omit that they may be a feature of a life-threatening digestive disorder.”
Eli Lilly said: ‘Patient safety is Lilly’s top priority and we are actively involved in monitoring, evaluating and reporting safety information for 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.”
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.”
