GLP-1 Lawsuits (Ozempic and Wegovy): What the Record Shows

Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, or GLP-1 RAs, are a class of prescription medicines approved in the United States to treat type 2 diabetes, obesity, or both. Under brand names that include Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus, Mounjaro and Zepbound, they have become some of the most widely prescribed drugs in the country, and personal-injury lawsuits alleging side effects have followed. Federal claims that the medicines cause gastrointestinal injuries were consolidated into MDL No. 3094 in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, which the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation reported at 4,025 pending actions as of October 1, 2026. A second federal proceeding, MDL No. 3163, consolidates claims of an eye condition called non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION). No court has determined that any GLP-1 RA caused an individual patient’s injury.

What the FDA has said about the drug class

GLP-1 RAs mimic a hormone released by the intestine that helps lower blood sugar after eating and acts on parts of the brain that control appetite, according to the FDA. The agency approved the first medicine in the class in 2005. Its published list of approved products runs from Byetta (exenatide) through Victoza and Saxenda (liraglutide), Trulicity (dulaglutide), Ozempic and Rybelsus (semaglutide), Wegovy (semaglutide), and Mounjaro and Zepbound (tirzepatide), approved between 2005 and 2023 for type 2 diabetes, for obesity or overweight, or for both.

The most recent class-wide labeling action reviewed here is a Drug Safety Communication the FDA issued on January 13, 2026. In it the agency requested that drug manufacturers remove the warning about suicidal ideation and behavior from the labeling of the three products that carried it: Saxenda, Wegovy and Zepbound. The FDA said a comprehensive review found no increased risk of suicidal ideation or behavior with GLP-1 RAs. It cited a meta-analysis of 91 placebo-controlled trials covering 107,910 patients, and a retrospective cohort study of 2,243,138 users in the agency’s Sentinel System, neither of which showed an increased risk. That action updated a Drug Safety Communication of January 2024, in which the FDA reported that a preliminary evaluation had found no evidence that the medicines cause suicidal thoughts or actions and said its review would continue.

Separately, the FDA maintains a consumer-alert page about unapproved and compounded versions of GLP-1 drugs sold for weight loss. The agency reports that, as of May 31, 2026, it had received 990 reports of adverse events associated with compounded semaglutide and more than 730 associated with compounded tirzepatide, and it warns that compounded drugs are not FDA approved. On April 1, 2026, the agency also clarified the conditions under which compounded drugs qualify for exemptions from the federal compounding provisions. Those pages concern compounded and unapproved products, not the FDA-approved medicines at issue in the MDL.

What is established vs. what is alleged

Established by the documents reviewed here: the FDA approval dates and brand names of the medicines in the class; the January 2026 labeling action and its stated basis; and the existence, court assignment and pending-case counts of MDL No. 3094 and MDL No. 3163.

Alleged, and not decided: that GLP-1 RAs cause gastroparesis, ileus, intestinal obstruction or pseudo-obstruction, or other gastrointestinal injury; that they cause NAION, an optic-nerve condition; and that the manufacturers failed to warn patients and prescribers adequately. Those are the claims asserted in the pleadings. No court has ruled that the medicines caused any individual’s injury.

Where the claims stand procedurally

The gastrointestinal-injury cases are consolidated as MDL No. 3094, In re: Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists (GLP-1 RAs) Products Liability Litigation, before Judge Karen S. Marston in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The Panel’s transfer order in that proceeding quotes the Panel’s earlier centralization decision, which described the litigation’s scope as personal-injury actions alleging that GLP-1 RAs cause gastroparesis, ileus, intestinal obstruction or pseudo-obstruction, or other gastrointestinal injury (717 F. Supp. 3d 1370, 1373 (J.P.M.L. 2024)). The Panel’s statistics report dated October 1, 2026 lists 4,025 actions now pending in the MDL and 4,139 actions filed in total.

The NAION claims are consolidated separately as MDL No. 3163, In re: Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists (GLP-1 RAs) Non-Arteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy Products Liability Litigation, also before Judge Marston in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. That report lists 247 actions pending in MDL No. 3163 as of the same date.

The most recent Panel order in the record reviewed here is a transfer order in MDL No. 3094 filed October 2, 2026. It admits one additional action, Pearsall v. Novo Nordisk (M.D.N.C. No. 1:26-00475), over the plaintiff’s opposition. The Panel concluded that the action shared common questions of fact with the MDL, noting that the plaintiff alleged gastrointestinal injuries alongside other injuries.

Key dates

• 2005: the FDA approves the first GLP-1 RA, Byetta (exenatide), for type 2 diabetes (FDA product list).
• 2017: Ozempic (semaglutide) approved for type 2 diabetes (FDA product list).
• 2021: Wegovy (semaglutide) approved for obesity or overweight (FDA product list).
• 2022 and 2023: Mounjaro and Zepbound (tirzepatide) approved for type 2 diabetes and for obesity or overweight, respectively (FDA product list).
• 2024: the Panel centralizes the gastrointestinal-injury actions as MDL No. 3094 (717 F. Supp. 3d 1370 (J.P.M.L. 2024)).
• January 11, 2024: the FDA reports a preliminary evaluation finding no evidence that GLP-1 RAs cause suicidal thoughts or actions, and says its review continues (FDA Drug Safety Communication).
• January 13, 2026: the FDA requests removal of the suicidal ideation and behavior warning from the labeling of Saxenda, Wegovy and Zepbound after a comprehensive review found no increased risk (FDA Drug Safety Communication).
• April 1, 2026: the FDA clarifies compounding-exemption conditions as the national GLP-1 supply stabilizes (FDA alert).
• May 31, 2026: the FDA’s stated cutoff for its counts of adverse-event reports tied to compounded semaglutide and tirzepatide (FDA alert).
• October 1, 2026: the Panel reports 4,025 actions pending in MDL No. 3094 and 247 in MDL No. 3163 (JPML statistics report).
• October 2, 2026: the Panel files a transfer order admitting one additional action to MDL No. 3094 (JPML transfer order).

What this does not establish

Nothing in the documents reviewed here shows a court finding that a GLP-1 RA caused any individual’s injury. The MDLs are consolidated pretrial proceedings; the central causation questions have not been decided, and the transfer order reviewed here addresses only where a single case is heard, not the merits of any claim. The documents record no trial verdict and no approved settlement in either MDL.

An FDA labeling decision is a regulatory action, not a finding of causation or liability. The January 2026 communication concerned a different question, the risk of suicidal ideation and behavior, and its conclusion was that the agency found no increased risk for that outcome; it says nothing about whether the medicines cause gastrointestinal injuries or NAION. The FDA’s compounding alerts concern unapproved and compounded products, and are not findings about the approved medicines.

Frequently asked questions

Is there an Ozempic class action settlement?

No settlement appears in the documents reviewed here, and MDL No. 3094 is a consolidated pretrial proceeding rather than a class action. In an MDL each plaintiff keeps an individual claim; a nationwide class settlement would require separate court approval. The Panel’s October 2026 report and transfer order record no announced settlement.

What injuries are alleged in these cases?

The Panel’s centralization order describes the MDL No. 3094 claims as alleging that GLP-1 RAs cause gastroparesis, ileus, intestinal obstruction or pseudo-obstruction, or other gastrointestinal injury. MDL No. 3163 consolidates a separate group of claims involving NAION, an optic-nerve condition. All of those are allegations, not findings.

Does the FDA say GLP-1 drugs cause these injuries?

The FDA actions reviewed here do not say that. The January 2026 communication addressed the risk of suicidal ideation and behavior and requested removal of that warning after finding no increased risk. The agency has not, in the documents reviewed, concluded that GLP-1 RAs cause gastrointestinal injuries or NAION.

How does an MDL differ from a class action?

An MDL consolidates federal cases for coordinated pretrial proceedings, but each plaintiff keeps an individual claim and generally must prove causation and damages separately. A class action resolves a defined group’s claims as one case, usually through a court-approved settlement with a fairness hearing. Background guides on how mass tort litigation works and on MDLs and class actions explain the difference, alongside the pharmaceutical lawsuits hub, the Oxbryta withdrawal litigation and the Depo-Provera meningioma litigation.

Sources

1. U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation: “MDL Statistics Report: Distribution of Pending MDL Dockets by District, October 1, 2026” (link, accessed 2026-10-13)
2. U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation: “In re: Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists (GLP-1 RAs) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 3094, Transfer Order” (link, accessed 2026-10-13)
3. U.S. Food and Drug Administration: “FDA Requests Removal of Suicidal Behavior and Ideation Warning from Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist (GLP-1 RA) Medications” (link, accessed 2026-10-13)
4. U.S. Food and Drug Administration: “Update on FDA’s ongoing evaluation of reports of suicidal thoughts or actions in patients taking a certain type of medicines approved for type 2 diabetes and obesity” (link, accessed 2026-10-13)
5. U.S. Food and Drug Administration: “FDA’s Concerns with Unapproved GLP-1 Drugs Used for Weight Loss” (link, accessed 2026-10-13)
6. U.S. Food and Drug Administration: “FDA clarifies policies for compounders as national GLP-1 supply begins to stabilize” (link, accessed 2026-10-13)

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