Can Ozempic Cause Permanent Blindness?
Doctors are noticing a new, rare side effect surfacing in patients taking semaglutide injections for diabetes 2 and/or weight loss. Semaglutide, you may remember, is the key ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy.
The side effect is called NAION – non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy – which is sudden, painless, permanent vision loss. Ophthalmologists have begun observing the pattern most: four times the incidence in Type 2 diabetes patients and seven times the incidence in weight loss patients.5
No causal link has been established yet, and it won’t be until a double-blind study is conducted. But six years of existing patient records indicate a curious uptick in cases. Doctors at Mass Eye and Ear in Boston saw three new NAION cases in only one week, and were startled to realize that each of the patients was taking semaglutide (GLP-1) medications.7
The connection between semaglutides and vision loss is not well understood and neither is NAION, for that matter. “It is, in effect, a stroke of the optic nerve,” said senior study author Dr. Joseph Rizzo, the director of neuro-ophthalmology at Mass Eye and Ear in Boston.
Potential risk, at any rate, is thought to be higher during the first year of taking the drugs, according to the study published in JAMA Opthalmology (Journal of American Medical Association) on July 3, 2024.8
NBC’s coverage of the potentially higher risk for blindness in semaglutide patients noted that FDA-approved labels for both Ozempic and Wegovy include vision changes as potential side effects. Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk is further exploring the link between semaglutide use and diabetic retinopathy in a trial expected to wrap in 2027.
Due to these recent studies, our Ozempic lawyers are investigating possible lawsuits related to sudden blindness after using Ozempic or Wegovy. If this sounds like you, we want to talk to you. Contact us now to see if you may be able to take part in an Ozempic lawsuit.