When Monica Church was prescribed Ozempic to treat her diabetes in October 2023, she was told it would help ease her symptoms.
By Christmas, the 55 year old woman from Michigan was put in the hospital for two weeks because of abdominal pain, vomiting and stomach paralysis.
She lost the ability to eat foods she used to enjoy, like pizza and bread, and now only eats small meals to avoid upsetting her stomach. She said she wasn’t told about these side effects by her doctor.
Ms Church isn’t alone. She’s one of a growing number of people joining up with lawsuits against Novo Nordisk and its parent company, Eli Lilly, for claims that they didn’t adequately display some of the risks of the drug on it’s packaging.
Robert King, a New York based attorney representing 400 different patients, told DailyMail.com that stomach issues are by far the most common complaint.
But he’s also representing people who got blood clots after beginning the drug and people who claim that the drug caused blindness, caused their teeth to fall out and left them paralyzed.
He said that people repeatedly tell him they wish they were better informed about the risks of the drugs before taking it.
Mr King said: ‘I don’t think anyone would agree to potential blindness. You know, that’s a that’s a major life event that no one would ever suspect is related to a weight loss issue.’
Jacqueline Barber of Louisville, Kentucky slept on the couch with a garbage can next to her for about a year. She lost 140 lbs, her teeth began crumbling because of the stomach acid in her comit and she became so weak that she had to use a walker to get around
Ozempic users have previously told DailyMail.com the drug has caused them to no longer crave alcohol
Ozempic, and other drugs like Mounjaro, Wegovy and Trulicity, are a class of drugs called GLP-1 agonist.
They mimic a hormone that controls feelings of fullness and how quickly food moves through the body.
These drugs were originally created to treat diabetes, but noting how well it helped people drop pounds, doctors began prescribing them for people trying to lose weight.
A May 2024 poll found that one in eight adults are taking a GLP-1 agonist – which could represent as many as 30million people.
Mr King said that these lawsuits began in the fall of 2023, but in the past year, the number of people joining litigation have been steadily climbing.
Cecily King, 43, Kentuckian had been taking GLP drugs since September 2021.
Over time, she developed gastroparesis, a paralysis of the stomach which can cause vomiting’s, constipation, malnutrition, acid reflux and blood sugar problems.
In Ms King’s case, the stalling out of her stomach caused her severe, persistent vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain that sent her to the emergency room.
These damages have been permanent, and she still suffers with GI issues.
Ms Church, the Michigan patient, told USA Today that living with this symptom was difficult.
She said: ‘I couldn’t eat anything. I couldn’t drink anything. I had such burning in my stomach and in my chest that nothing helped.’
Ms King is one of the plaintiffs suing Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. Her suit claims that the companies: ‘downplayed the severity of the gastrointestinal events caused by its GLP-1RAs.’
Bob Tuttle of Tennessee became so sick from his stomach paralysis that he had to quit his job as a safety advisor on an oil rig
Mr Tuttle had to be airlifted off the rig in the Gulf of Mexico after four days of being unable to keep food down. He was diagnosed with stomach paralysis within the week
Gastroparesis can become so severe that it threatens your life, as in the case of Louisville’s Jacqueline Barber, 49. Barber told Time that her doctor said it would ‘work wonders’ for her diabetes.
Instead, she said it wrecked her stomach, and she became bed bound, throwing up constantly for the year she was on the drug.
She dropped 140 pounds, her teeth began crumbling from the stomach acid and she had to start using a walker because she became so weak.
Mr King said there are also some cases where patients are alleging that life threatening blood clots are linked to their GLP-1 drug.
Florida man Roderick Shirely, 83 began taking Ozempic in 2022 on the advice of his endocrinologist. At first, he tolerated it well.
Ozempic and its sister drug Wegovy work by triggering the body to bind to a receptor called the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), a protein that triggers hormones in the brain that keep the stomach full and tell the body to stop eating and avoid cravings
But in September 2023, Mr Shirley developed chest pain, and went to the doctor. There, they found a large blood clot in his hip and lungs, called a deep-vein thrombosis. broken off and travelled to his lungs. This was potentially cutting off blood flow to the life saving organ, damaging it.
He needed emergency surgery, and nearly died twice while on the operating table. He also had three cardiac arrest.
Afterwards, he hospitalized for three weeks, wracking up medical bills. Mr Shirely is another plaintiff in the case, and his case alleges that his: ‘life is forever changed because of his usage of Ozempic.’
There is a study performed by scientists at Chenzhen Longhua District Central Hospital in China linking GLP drugs to the kind of blood clots suffered by Mr Shirely.
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However, the evidence isn’t conclusive. There are also studies that suggest the drug can reduce blood clots and associated heart problems.
Dana Filmore of Columbus, Ohio, now subsists on a diet of protein shakes and Jell-O. Her stomach paralysis tied to Ozempic prevents her from eating solid foods
The companies that manufacture these drugs robustly deny these claims.
A spokesperson for Novo Nordisk previously told DailyMail.com that these lawsuits are unfounded. They said the side effects and risks of Ozempic are listed clearly stated on the label.
They added: ‘Novo Nordisk stands behind the safety and efficacy of all of our GLP-1 medicines when they are used as indicated and when they are taken under the care of a licensed healthcare professional.’
Ozempic’s FDA-approved warning label mentions ‘gastrointestinal adverse reactions’.
It does not appear that any of the labels include mention of gastroparesis.
Still, in these cases, the plaintiffs state that their goal isn’t to get rid of Ozempic, but to help people be more aware of what the risks of taking it are.
Barber said: ‘I just want people to have the education I didn’t’.
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