A Louisiana woman filed suit against Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly and accused the drug companies of failing to warn patients about the risk of a paralyzed stomach, or gastroparesis, with their popular Type 2 diabetes drugs.
The plaintiff, Jaclyn Bjorklund, used Novo Nordisk's Ozempic for about a year until July, which is when she began taking Eli Lilly's Mounjaro, according to court documents filed Aug. 2.
The lawsuit alleges that the drugs resulted in "severe vomiting, stomach pain, gastrointestinal burning, [Ms. Bjorklund] being hospitalized for stomach issues on several occasions including visits to the emergency room, teeth falling out due to excessive vomiting, requiring additional medications to alleviate her excessive vomiting and throwing up whole food hours after eating."
Ms. Bjorklund said the companies published the risk of gastrointestinal events but did not include the severity scope of gastroparesis, which is when the stomach muscles become weakened and the stomach freezes up.
Gastroparesis is also known as delayed gastric emptying. Mounjaro's label does not mention severe gastrointestinal issues, and Ozempic's label says "the mechanism of blood glucose lowering also involves a minor delay in gastric emptying in the early postprandial phase."
Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly told Becker's they are monitoring drug safety, and a Novo Nordisk spokesperson added that delayed gastric emptying is mentioned on Ozempic's label.