If you or a family member suddenly lost vision after starting Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, or another GLP-1 medication, you are looking at an active area of litigation. An Ozempic blindness lawsuit is a product-liability claim against Novo Nordisk or Eli Lilly alleging that their GLP-1 drugs caused a permanent optic-nerve injury called non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, or NAION, and that the companies failed to warn patients and doctors about the risk. As of mid-2026, more than 100 federal cases have been consolidated into a dedicated multidistrict litigation in Philadelphia, with additional cases proceeding in New Jersey state court.1MDL Update. MDL-3163 GLP-1 NAION Products Liability Litigation2AboutLawsuits.com. Lawsuits Over Ozempic Vision Loss and Gastrointestinal Injuries in NJ State Court No settlements have been reached and no trials have taken place.
The Injury at the Center of These Cases
NAION is essentially a stroke of the optic nerve. Blood flow to the front of the nerve is suddenly cut off, killing nerve tissue and causing rapid, painless vision loss, usually in one eye, often noticed on waking. The damage is typically permanent. There is no proven treatment to reverse it, and roughly 15 to 25 percent of people who develop NAION in one eye eventually develop it in the other.3National Library of Medicine. Nonarteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy
NAION is also associated with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, and a structural feature called a crowded optic disc.4Cleveland Clinic. Ischemic Optic Neuropathy Those same conditions are common in people who take GLP-1 drugs, and that overlap is a central battleground in the litigation.
Which Drugs and Companies Are Being Sued
The lawsuits target two manufacturers. Novo Nordisk faces claims tied to Ozempic, Wegovy, Saxenda, and Rybelsus. Eli Lilly faces claims tied to Mounjaro and Zepbound.5Drugwatch. Ozempic Vision Loss Lawsuits Consolidated in Federal MDL Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus all contain semaglutide, which is the active ingredient the published research has focused on.
What Plaintiffs Are Alleging
The core legal theory is failure to warn. Plaintiffs allege that Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly had access to clinical trial data, post-marketing reports, and published research pointing to NAION as a risk of their GLP-1 drugs, and that the companies did not add the information to their labels or communicate it to prescribing physicians.6Drugwatch. Ozempic Lawsuit
Individual complaints describe severe, lasting injuries. A May 2026 lawsuit filed on behalf of a Florida resident alleges the plaintiff developed NAION after taking both Ozempic and Mounjaro.7YourLawyer.com. Parker Waichman LLP Files Lawsuit on Behalf of Florida Resident Alleging NAION After Taking Ozempic and Mounjaro A Texas plaintiff alleges she lost 90 percent of the vision in one eye after six months on Ozempic. In New Jersey, a Woodbridge man alleges that Wegovy caused NAION and permanent blindness.8Ethel Nosroff Law. Ozempic Blindness Lawsuit
Where the Cases Have Been Consolidated
On December 15, 2025, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation created MDL No. 3163, In re: Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists (GLP-1 RAs) Non-Arteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy Products Liability Litigation, and assigned it to Judge Karen S. Marston in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.9U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. MDL-3163 Transfer Order The panel kept the NAION cases separate from an earlier MDL covering gastrointestinal injuries but assigned both to Judge Marston to allow coordination. By June 2026, 110 cases were pending in the NAION MDL.1MDL Update. MDL-3163 GLP-1 NAION Products Liability Litigation Attorney Parvin K. Aminolroaya of Seeger Weiss has been appointed co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs.10Seeger Weiss. GLP-1 NAION Vision Loss Lawsuit
Plaintiffs have also pursued state-level consolidation. On November 10, 2025, the New Jersey Supreme Court granted an application to consolidate NAION semaglutide cases as a multicounty litigation in Bergen County under Superior Court Judge Gregg A. Padovano.2AboutLawsuits.com. Lawsuits Over Ozempic Vision Loss and Gastrointestinal Injuries in NJ State Court11O’Steen & Harrison. Plaintiffs Apply for Semaglutide NAION MCL Designation in Middlesex County No trials have been held, no bellwether cases have been tried, and no settlements have been announced.6Drugwatch. Ozempic Lawsuit
The Science the Lawsuits Rely On
The litigation traces back to a July 2024 study in JAMA Ophthalmology from Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Eye and Ear. Reviewing records of 16,827 patients seen by neuro-ophthalmologists between December 2017 and November 2023, the researchers found that patients with type 2 diabetes prescribed semaglutide were roughly four times more likely to develop NAION than those on other diabetes medications, with a 36-month cumulative incidence of 8.9 percent versus 1.8 percent. Among patients using semaglutide for weight loss, the risk was about seven times higher: 6.7 percent versus 0.8 percent.12JAMA Network. Risk of Nonarteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy in Patients Prescribed Semaglutide13PubMed. Risk of Nonarteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy in Patients Prescribed Semaglutide The authors said the study could not prove causation and that “future study is required to assess causality.”14Neurology Today. Risk of Nonarteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy in Patients Prescribed Semaglutide
Later research has pointed in the same direction with smaller effect sizes. An April 2025 JAMA Ophthalmology analysis of 37.1 million people with type 2 diabetes across 14 databases found a “modest increase” in NAION risk, with semaglutide users about twice as likely to develop the condition under a stricter case definition.15Johns Hopkins University. Semaglutide and Nonarteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy A June 2025 Danish-Norwegian cohort study of more than 60,000 semaglutide users reported a pooled hazard ratio of 2.81 compared with users of a different diabetes drug class, while noting that the absolute risk remained low.16University of Southern Denmark. Use of Semaglutide and Risk of Non-Arteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy
What Novo Nordisk Says
Novo Nordisk denies that its drugs cause NAION. A company spokesperson told NBC News that “NAION is not an adverse drug reaction to Ozempic and other GLP-1s” and that the “benefit-risk profile of semaglutide remains unchanged.”17NBC News. Lawsuit Alleges Man With Diabetes Became Blind Taking Ozempic The company points to an internal safety analysis that it says used a blinded ophthalmologist evaluation and found “very few cases” of confirmed NAION with “no imbalance disfavoring Novo Nordisk GLP-1 receptor agonists.”18Fierce Pharma. Novo Nordisk Faces New Reports Suggesting Link Between Ozempic and Blindness The company also emphasizes that eye conditions are “well-known comorbidities for people living with diabetes.” As of mid-2026, Novo Nordisk has not added NAION to the U.S. warning label for any of its semaglutide products.
What Regulators Have Done
European and UK regulators have moved further than the FDA. In June 2025, the European Medicines Agency’s safety committee concluded that NAION is a “very rare” side effect of semaglutide, meaning it may affect up to one in 10,000 users, and recommended updating product labels for Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus across the EU. The committee also advised that semaglutide should be stopped if a patient is diagnosed with NAION.19European Medicines Agency. PRAC Concludes Eye Condition NAION Very Rare Side Effect of Semaglutide Medicines Formal implementation into EU product information was pending as of mid-2025.20AIFA. PRAC-EMA Communication on Semaglutide
In February 2026, the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency issued a safety update stating that semaglutide “may be very rarely associated” with NAION and advising patients to seek urgent medical attention for sudden vision changes. The MHRA had received three spontaneous reports of suspected NAION linked to semaglutide out of about 10.2 million packs dispensed in the UK over five years, with label revisions expected in “the coming months.”21UK Government. Semaglutide: Risk of Non-Arteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy
The FDA has taken no public action to require label changes for semaglutide regarding NAION. Current U.S. prescribing information for Wegovy mentions diabetic retinopathy complications but does not reference NAION.22FDA. Wegovy Prescribing Information The agency has funded a large safety study through its Sentinel System, known as the HARPER study, to examine the GLP-1/NAION signal using real-world data. The protocol was published in mid-2025, and no interim results had been released as of June 2026.23FDA Sentinel Initiative. Risk of NAION Following GLP-1 Receptor Agonist Use in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Who May Have a Claim
The lawsuits so far have been brought by people who took Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus, Saxenda, Mounjaro, or Zepbound and were later diagnosed with NAION, often with sudden, permanent vision loss in one or both eyes. Blindness caused by other conditions, such as diabetic retinopathy or a retinal detachment, is not what this litigation covers; the alleged injury is specifically NAION. If you believe your vision loss may fit, the practical first steps are to get a diagnosis in writing from an ophthalmologist or neuro-ophthalmologist, preserve your prescription records, and consult a lawyer while the MDL is still in its early phase. The litigation will continue to evolve as bellwether cases are chosen, as the HARPER study reports, and as European and UK regulators finalize their labeling decisions.