The lawsuit accuses drug manufacturer Novo Nordisk of failing to warn patients of the possible association between the popular drug and an eye condition called NAION.
A Maryland man who took Ozempic and then became legally blind is suing the drug’s manufacturer, arguing it had an obligation to warn patients that loss of sight could be a possible side effect.
Todd Engel, 62, was prescribed Ozempic in 2023 to manage his Type 2 diabetes. The lawsuit said about four months later, Engel was diagnosed with nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, or NAION, a condition in which a loss of blood flow to the optic nerve causes sudden and irreversible vision loss.
NAION occurs in up to about 10 out of every 100,000 people over age 50, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
The blindness from diabetes is a completely different one than the one from Ozempic. There are many ways to lose your eye sight. Diabetes makes your retina fail. Semaglutides causes issues with the blood flow to the eye nerves.