The rise of GLP-1 drugs
GLP-1 receptor agonists — synthetic versions of the body's own glucagon-like peptide-1 — were originally developed as treatments for type 2 diabetes. By mimicking GLP-1, they stimulate insulin release, suppress glucagon, slow gastric emptying, and reduce appetite. Semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound) became blockbusters within a few years of launch, with millions of Americans prescribed them for diabetes and, increasingly, for weight loss.
The same mechanisms that drive weight loss — particularly the dramatic slowing of stomach emptying — are now alleged to drive a wave of serious injuries: gastroparesis, severe pancreatitis, intestinal obstruction, gallbladder disease, sudden vision loss (NAION), and aspiration during anesthesia.
FDA warnings and label history
GLP-1 drugs have carried a boxed warning for thyroid C-cell tumors since approval. Other warnings — including pancreatitis and gallbladder disease — were added over time. In September 2023, the FDA required Novo Nordisk to add ileus (a dangerous bowel obstruction) to the Ozempic label after a post-marketing safety review. In 2024, Harvard researchers published findings in JAMA Ophthalmology linking semaglutide to substantially elevated risk of NAION — sudden, often permanent vision loss.
Plaintiffs allege many of these warnings should have been on the label years earlier, and that even now they fail to convey the true severity and persistence of the risks.
MDL 3094 — the consolidated litigation
On February 2, 2024, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation created In re: Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists (GLP-1 RAs) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 3094, centralized in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania before Judge Gene E. K. Pratter. After Judge Pratter's passing, the MDL was reassigned but remains in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
The MDL coordinates pretrial proceedings — discovery, science Daubert motions, bellwether trial selection — across thousands of individual cases. Each plaintiff keeps an individual claim and any settlement is calibrated to individual injury severity.
Defendants and drugs
- Novo Nordisk — Ozempic (semaglutide injection, diabetes), Wegovy (semaglutide injection, weight loss), Rybelsus (oral semaglutide, diabetes).
- Eli Lilly — Mounjaro (tirzepatide injection, diabetes), Zepbound (tirzepatide injection, weight loss).
Timeline of key events
- 2017 — Ozempic FDA approval.
- 2021 — Wegovy FDA approval for chronic weight management.
- 2022 — Mounjaro FDA approval.
- 2023 — Zepbound FDA approval; FDA adds ileus to Ozempic warning label.
- Feb 2024 — JPML creates MDL 3094 in E.D. Pa.
- 2024 — Harvard/Mass Eye and Ear NAION study published; vision-loss claims accelerate.
- 2025–2026 — Bellwether case selection and discovery underway.