Lawsuits Claim Ozempic May Cause Vision Loss While Safety Data Remain Limited

Todd Engel, a Maryland warehouse worker, sued Novo Nordisk in 2023 after losing vision in both eyes while on Ozempic, a GLP‑1 drug for diabetes. ## What Happened Engel began weekly Ozempic injections in early 2023. On New Year’s Eve he woke with complete darkness in his right eye; doctors diagnosed non‑arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), an inoperable stroke‑like condition. The physician said no link to Ozempic was known. Seven months later JAMA Ophthalmology published a study showing higher NAION rates among diabetic patients using Ozempic (semaglutide), but Engel and his doctor were unaware, so he kept the drug and lost sight in his left eye the following year. ## Legal Action Engel’s lawsuit accuses Novo Nordisk of failing to warn about NAION risk. It joins two consolidated multi‑district litigations that together name hundreds of plaintiffs with NAION and thousands with serious digestive issues such as pancreatitis and gallstones. Novo Nordisk’s spokespeople cite later research that questions the NAION link and call the cases meritless. ## Context GLP‑1 drugs are used by more than one in ten Americans for weight loss and by one in seven at some point, but data on rare serious side effects are thin. The FDA’s adverse‑event database recorded over 1,000 optic‑neuropathy reports and 1,928 pancreatitis reports linked to GLP‑1s since 2024, out of roughly 190,000 total reports. Medical societies note the JAMA study shows correlation, not causation, and do not advise stopping the drugs. The FDA is conducting its own NAION risk assessment but has not yet changed labels.