Tampa Bay residents among those alleging Ozempic caused stomach paralysis – Tampa Bay Times

Tony Thompson thought he was taking a type of insulin when he was prescribed Ozempic to treat his diabetes in 2021.

The Zephyrhills resident gave himself the medication through weekly injections. After a few weeks, he found himself barely eating and favorite meals like hamburgers and fries began to smell awful to him. He quickly shed 17 pounds.

Soon after that, Thompson, 60, began to suffer severe stomach pains. His condition deteriorated even more on a trip to Georgia when he reached a fourth day without a bowel movement. The pain was so bad, he said, friends had to drive him home as he couldnt risk taking his return flight.

He also blames the drug for later developing pancreatitis, which required surgery to remove his gallbladder.

I felt like I was a chemo patient, he said. I couldnt stand the smell of food.

Thompson and other Tampa Bay residents are among thousands who have joined a mass legal action against Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of Ozempic and Wegovy, a similar drug used for obesity. The lawsuit claims that the company failed to warn patients that Ozempic, hailed as a miracle drug for those battling diabetes and obesity, causes gastroparesis, also known as stomach paralysis.

Both Wegovy and Ozempic work by tricking the body into feeling that its full. Thats achieved through an ingredient known as a semaglutide, which mimics the GLP-1 hormone produced by the body when eating. They also slow the progress of food through the digestive system.

In September, the Food and Drug Administration updated Ozempics labeling to add ileus, a temporary condition when the intestines stop working properly and cant push food and waste out of the body, as a reported adverse reaction to the drug. There is no warning about gastroparesis.

Three recent preliminary studies found that patients using GLP-1 drugs are at a higher risk for gastroparesis, according to a CNN report.

GLP-1 drugs have soared in popularity in recent years with Medicare paying out $5.7 billion in 2022 for three popular brands, according to research by KFF. About one in eight Americans have taken GLP-1 type drugs, according to a KFF survey.

Those patients were put at risk by Novo Nordisk, which should have known about the risks to the gastrointestinal system, said Andrew Van Arsdale, a managing partner of AVA Law Group, which is representing about two thousand users of the medications.

There are some very dangerous side effects and these manufacturers have an obligation to put patients, consumers, doctors in the best position they can to make that risk benefit analysis to take that product, he said. Thats all were asking here.

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With 18 lawsuits filed in 11 court districts, the legal challenge is proceeding through a single test case filed on behalf of a Michigan women, who the lawsuit states she was hospitalized on Jan. 4 for extreme pain, vomiting and stomach paralysis that required an endoscopic procedure. She also was given painkillers for an inflamed esophagus.

Novo Nordisk disputes the allegations in the lawsuits and said in a company statement provided to the Tampa Bay Times that it plans to contest the cases. GLP-1 medicines have been used to treat type 2 diabetes for more than 18 years, and for the treatment of obesity for 8 years, it states.

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, the statement reads.

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Tampa Bay residents among those alleging Ozempic caused stomach paralysis - Tampa Bay Times