Lawsuit says that Ozempic and Mounjaro cause stomach paralysis – 08/03/2023 – Health

Drugmakers Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are facing a potential wave of personal injury lawsuits. Complaints point out that they failed to warn patients that drugs for diabetes and weight loss can cause stomach paralysis and severe vomiting.

Morgan & Morgan, a personal injury law firm, said Wednesday that it filed a lawsuit on behalf of a 44-year-old Louisiana woman. She suffered such severe vomiting after taking the drugs Ozempic and Mounjaro that she was hospitalized and lost teeth.

The company said it had registered 400 customers. They claimed that after taking these medications, they contracted gastroparesis, a disorder that slows or stops the movement of food from the stomach to the small intestine and causes nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain.

Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro are prescribed to treat diabetes. They are part of a new class of drugs called glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) agonists, which are also used to treat weight loss.

The drugs have proved extremely popular in the United States, with Wall Street analysts predicting they could generate a $50 billion market by 2030.

Paul Pennock, a lawyer for Morgan, said the drugs caused debilitating and disabling injuries to the company’s clients, who were not adequately warned by Eli Lilly and Novo about the risks of gastroparesis.

“A lot of people are experiencing constant vomiting. I don’t mean once a week, I mean every day, all the time. It’s so bad that these people are going to the emergency room for the vomiting,” Pennock said.

Morgan said he has hired clients from 45 US states and expects litigation to end up involving thousands of cases across the country.

Novo Nordisk told the Financial Times that GLP-1 drugs have been on the market for years to treat diabetes, and symptoms of delayed gastric emptying, nausea and vomiting are listed as possible side effects.

“Patient safety is of the utmost importance to Novo Nordisk. We recommend that patients take these medications for their approved indications and under the supervision of a healthcare professional,” Novo said.

“Patient safety is Lilly’s top priority, and we are actively involved in monitoring and communicating safety information for all of our medicines,” Lilly said.

Court documents show that the lawsuit was filed by Morgan on behalf of Jaclyn Bjorklund in a Louisiana federal court.

Personal injury lawsuits are common in the United States, some of which can turn into class actions where multiple plaintiffs seek compensation for damages or injuries caused by others.

Johnson & Johnson is fighting a bitter battle over tens of thousands of allegations that its baby powder caused cancer.