Lawsuits raise new safety questions about GLP-1 drugs
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What are the safety concerns surrounding GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy?
A growing number of lawsuits allege that the manufacturers of certain GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Manjaro fail to sufficiently warn of the risks of certain severe injuries.
How are drug manufacturers responding to allegations of severe injuries from GLP-1 drugs?
As more adverse experiences come to light, how are drug makers responding to safety concerns? Hello and welcome to USA Today's The Excerpt. I'm Dana Taylor. Today is Wednesday, January 28th, 2026. Since 2023, roughly 4,200 patients have filed lawsuits challenging the safety of GLP-1s.
What is stomach paralysis and how does it affect GLP-1 users?
Joining me to discuss some of those cases and the response from drug manufacturers is USA Today investigative data reporter Austin Bast. It's good to have you back on The Excerpt, Austin.
Yeah, thanks for having me back.
What severe symptoms have plaintiffs reported in lawsuits against GLP-1 manufacturers?
As you reported, the most common medical complaint by far is something known as stomach paralysis. What is that exactly, Austin? How does it affect the body?
It's what it sounds like, really. I mean, it's when your stomach stops moving, the muscles are weakened, and so it stops moving your food into the intestine so it can be digested.
What serious conditions are linked to GLP-1 drugs according to patients' allegations?
So what that happens is it causes people to feel full very quickly, even with just a couple bites of food sometimes, and then it can lead to nausea, vomiting, bloating, pain, and other sorts of problems. And there's not a cure that's known, but it can often be managed through dietary changes and lifestyle changes.
Another major complaint is intestinal obstructions. How severe are some of the worst cases? What have patients alleged here?
How widespread is the use of GLP-1 drugs in the United States?
Yeah. So aside from the stomach paralysis, I mean, there's some really just gruesome symptoms that the plaintiffs and all these lawsuits are describing. Many of them result in visits to the emergency room or multiple day hospitalizations and sometimes several hospitalizations at different times through the period that they're taking the drugs. Some people say the symptoms continue even after they stop taking whatever the drug is. So, you know, it has a lasting effect even beyond when they're on it.
What challenges do plaintiffs face in their lawsuits against GLP-1 drug manufacturers?
One example that really caught my attention as I started to look through these lawsuits was a gentleman in Kentucky who had to go to the hospital. He said a dozen times with cases of fecal vomiting, which is when your intestines are so blocked that literally it goes the only way that it can go, which is up and out. So just really gruesome, terrible stuff.
And you wrote about a smaller number of lawsuits linked to even more serious conditions. Tell me about some of those.
What potential benefits do GLP-1 drugs offer despite the reported risks?
Yeah, there's dozens of state cases in New Jersey, as well as a few dozen federal cases that claim that plaintiffs had what's known as an eye stroke, which causes sudden blindness. It's typically caused when blood flow is blocked to the optic nerve. There were several cases where patients or plaintiffs alleged that these drugs caused gallbladder issues. You know, they had to have their gallbladder removed because they had gangrene there or other issues with their gallbladder. We spoke with a plaintiff in one of the earliest cases that was filed way back in 2023, and she developed a severe neurological condition from malnutrition. Basically, she had a deficiency of a particular vitamin, and it caused this neurological condition which creates mental confusion.
She has an unsteady gait, you know, she can't walk like she used to, and vision changes, and she's really, you know, not the same as she was before she started taking these drugs.
As you said, some of these patients shared their stories with USA Today. Before we get into more of those, how have Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, the drug makers who manufacture these drugs, responded on the issue of the safety of GLP-1s?
Well, generally, they've denied all the claims. They're saying that they stand behind their drug safety and that they'll vigorously defend the reputation of their drugs. They add that they're willing to make updates to the warning labels, you know, when the science proves it. And they have made several changes over the past couple of years. But in general, they're denying most of these claims and the thousands of these lawsuits.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What are the safety concerns surrounding GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy?
0:05–0:18
2
How are drug manufacturers responding to allegations of severe injuries from GLP-1 drugs?
0:18–0:43
3
What is stomach paralysis and how does it affect GLP-1 users?
0:43–0:56
4
What severe symptoms have plaintiffs reported in lawsuits against GLP-1 manufacturers?
0:56–1:18
5
What serious conditions are linked to GLP-1 drugs according to patients' allegations?
1:18–1:47
6
How widespread is the use of GLP-1 drugs in the United States?
1:47–2:14
7
What challenges do plaintiffs face in their lawsuits against GLP-1 drug manufacturers?
2:14–2:44
8
What potential benefits do GLP-1 drugs offer despite the reported risks?
2:44–15:13