GLP-1 receptor agonists — Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and the rest of the class — have been prescribed to tens of millions of Americans for diabetes and weight loss in the past few years. A growing body of plaintiffs report that the drugs caused severe, lasting, sometimes permanent gastrointestinal injury — most prominently gastroparesis (a chronic paralysis of the stomach), intestinal obstruction, and severe gallbladder disease. The complaint: the manufacturers knew about the risk but failed to warn patients and prescribers in a meaningful way until well into the litigation.

In February 2024, the JPML consolidated the GLP-1 cases into MDL 3094 — In re: Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists (GLP-1 RAs) Products Liability Litigation, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania before Judge Karen Marston. Thousands of cases have already been filed. The litigation is in active discovery; bellwether trials are expected in the next 18-24 months.

Drugs covered by the litigation

• Ozempic (semaglutide injection) — Novo Nordisk, for type 2 diabetes
• Wegovy (semaglutide injection) — Novo Nordisk, for chronic weight management
• Rybelsus (semaglutide oral) — Novo Nordisk, for type 2 diabetes
• Mounjaro (tirzepatide injection) — Eli Lilly, for type 2 diabetes
• Zepbound (tirzepatide injection) — Eli Lilly, for chronic weight management
• Trulicity (dulaglutide injection) — Eli Lilly, for type 2 diabetes
• Saxenda and Victoza (liraglutide) — Novo Nordisk

The injuries at issue

Severe gastroparesis

Sometimes called “stomach paralysis” — a chronic condition where the stomach empties abnormally slowly. Symptoms include severe nausea, persistent vomiting (often of food eaten days earlier), abdominal pain, bloating, weight loss, malnutrition, and dehydration. Some patients develop the condition after only weeks on a GLP-1 drug; for others it persists long after the drug is stopped. Treatment is symptomatic and limited; severe cases require feeding tubes or pacemaker-style gastric stimulators.

Intestinal obstruction (ileus)

A blockage in the small or large intestine. Often presents acutely with severe pain, vomiting, and inability to pass gas or stool. Frequently requires hospitalization, sometimes surgical resection. The FDA added a warning about ileus to GLP-1 labels in late 2023.

Gallbladder disease

Gallstones, cholecystitis (gallbladder inflammation), and gallbladder removal. The risk has been recognized in the labeling, but plaintiffs allege the disclosed risk understated frequency and severity.

Other claimed injuries

Acute pancreatitis, deep vein thrombosis, kidney injury, vision loss (rare), and suicidal ideation are also being evaluated by attorneys handling these cases, though the science behind some of those connections remains contested.

Who qualifies

• Documented prescription for one of the GLP-1 drugs above
• Diagnosis of severe gastroparesis, intestinal obstruction, gallbladder disease requiring surgery, or another qualifying GI complication
• Treatment for that condition during or after the prescription period
• Diagnosis within the relevant statute of limitations from the discovery of the connection

Casual GI side effects (mild nausea, occasional vomiting) that resolved when the drug was stopped generally don’t support a claim. The litigation is targeted at people whose lives have been meaningfully changed by lasting injury.

The legal theory

The core claim is failure to warn. Plaintiffs argue that Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly knew or should have known — from their own clinical trial data, post-marketing surveillance, and adverse-event reports — that the GLP-1 drugs cause more frequent and more severe GI injury than the labeling reflected. A “reasonable warning” would have allowed prescribers to weigh the risk against weight-loss or diabetes benefits, and would have allowed patients to make informed choices. The FDA’s 2023 ileus warning addition is evidence cited by plaintiffs that the risk was real and that the labeling was inadequate before then.

Where the litigation stands

MDL 3094 was consolidated in February 2024. Plaintiff fact sheets, defendant fact sheets, and the science fight are all ongoing. The court has held early Daubert and general-causation hearings. No settlement has been announced; the major manufacturers continue to deny that the products caused the injuries alleged. The case calendar suggests bellwether trial selection in the next 12-18 months.

Statute of limitations

Most state SOLs run two to four years from the discovery of the injury and its connection to the drug. Discovery rules vary; in some states the clock starts when a reasonable patient would have connected the symptoms to the drug, in others when a doctor identifies the link. Don’t assume the SOL has passed without checking — the discovery rule is favorable to plaintiffs in most jurisdictions, but the calendar moves quickly once symptoms are documented.

Frequently asked questions

This page is general information about the GLP-1 receptor agonist litigation, including Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro. The science is being adjudicated. This is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.