GLP-1 Blindness Lawsuit Grows Past 130 Cases as Wegovy Patient Says She Lost Sight
Updated
Updated · WSB Atlanta · Jul 20
GLP-1 Blindness Lawsuit Grows Past 130 Cases as Wegovy Patient Says She Lost Sight
3 articles · Updated · WSB Atlanta · Jul 20
Summary
More than 130 plaintiffs are now in a Philadelphia multidistrict lawsuit alleging GLP-1 drugs caused NAION, an irreversible eye-stroke condition that can leave patients legally blind.
Diane Wirth of Georgia said she lost vision in her right eye within weeks of starting Wegovy in February 2025, then was diagnosed as legally blind and forced to quit work and stop driving.
The suit claims Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly knew of the risk from a 2024 JAMA Ophthalmology study but did not add blindness warnings to U.S. labels; plaintiffs' lawyer said Europe and the U.K. have updated semaglutide labels.
Novo Nordisk said its analysis of more than 96,000 patients found no increased NAION risk, while Lilly said current literature does not establish a causal link; the FDA is still studying the potential safety signal.
As lawsuits over blindness mount, why do US labels for Wegovy and Ozempic omit warnings found in Europe?
Is the convenience of popular weight-loss drugs worth the newly uncovered, irreversible risk of going blind?
Over 1,000 GLP-1 Blindness Lawsuits: The 2026 Legal, Medical, and Market Fallout for Ozempic and Wegovy
Overview
As of July 2026, lawsuits against GLP-1 receptor agonist medications like Ozempic and Wegovy are rapidly increasing, with many individuals claiming severe vision loss, especially Non-Arteritic Ischemic Optic Neuropathy (NAION). This surge follows a pivotal July 2024 study linking semaglutide, the active ingredient in these drugs, to NAION. Dr. Joseph Rizzo described NAION as a stroke of the optic nerve, highlighting the seriousness of the condition. The scientific evidence from this study is now a key foundation for plaintiffs, fueling ongoing legal actions and frequent updates as more cases emerge.