'Duped people': Nashville attorney says client lost gall bladder due to Ozempic

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A man who used a weight loss drug claims he lost his gall bladder, and now his attorney is preparing to file a lawsuit.

Ozempic and similar drugs used for diabetes have been touted as a way to lose weight.

"After researching it, it turns out that in 2017 Ozempic had nothing on their warning label about stomach paralysis, gall bladder issues, yet people were having exactly that," Bart Durham Injury Law attorney Blair Durham said.

According to Durham, digestive issues can include bleeding and ulcers.

"Which can ultimately lead to death, and so they’ve essentially duped people looking to lose weight,” Durham said.

It's possible the miracle weight loss drug is too good to be true, he said.

“We got a call from a guy who said he was on Ozempic, had gone to the hospital, had to have his gall bladder removed," Durham said.

They plan to file a lawsuit on his client's behalf after he lost an organ.

"There’s emails from the FDA to all of these companies saying, 'Hey, what the heck? You need to list these as warnings',” Durham said.

Eventually, the labels were upgraded, but for some people, he said it was too late.

“It’s just mass deception by pharmaceutical companies,” Durham said.

Blair feels it's difficult for patients to know if reactions are minor or indicative of a major internal issue.

"And for them, the nausea and all that stuff is worth it to get the 10 pounds off, but what they don’t know is that it could also cause and lead to a change in life forever, or maybe the loss of life," Durham said.

Other lawsuits have been filed across the country in places like Louisiana too.

“As of now, they’re all individual cases, but I think it’s going to be an avalanche of people getting really sick just trying to lose a little weight,” Durham said.

We reached out to Novo Nordisk, the maker of Ozempic and Wegovy, but did not hear back at the time of publication. Shares have skyrocketed for the company, and its market value is now considered to be over $500 billion.

Adverse reactions can be reported to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

On Friday, Novo Nordisk issued the following statement.

“Novo Nordisk believes that the allegations in the lawsuit are without merit, and we intend to vigorously defend against these claims. GLP-1 RA medicines have been used to treat type 2 diabetes (T2D) for more than 18 years, and for treatment of obesity for 8 years. This includes Novo Nordisk GLP-1 RA medicines semaglutide and liraglutide that have been on the market for more than 13 years. Semaglutide has been extensively examined in robust clinical development programs, large real world evidence studies and has cumulatively over 9.5 million patient years of clinical experience. Gastroparesis is a clinical syndrome characterized by delayed gastric emptying in the absence of mechanical obstruction of the stomach. While diabetes is a well-known risk factor, there are other risk factors that may increase the risk of gastroparesis such as overweight/obesity, gender (female), viral infection, certain autoimmune diseases, and certain nervous systems disease (Parkinson’s disease or multiple sclerosis). Gastrointestinal (GI) events are well-known side effects of the GLP-1 RA class. For semaglutide, the majority of GI side effects are mild to moderate in severity and of short duration.  As noted in the label of each of our GLP-1 RA medicines, delayed gastric emptying is a known effect, and part of the mechanism of action, of all GLP-1RAs. Symptoms of delayed gastric emptying, nausea and vomiting are listed as side effects. Patient safety is of utmost importance to Novo Nordisk. We recommend patients take these medications for their approved indications and under the supervision of a healthcare professional. We are continuously monitoring the safety profile of our products and collaborate closely with regulatory authorities to ensure patient safety, including that appropriate information on gastrointestinal side effects is included in the labeling for our GLP-1RA medicines.”