As Ozempic cases mount, consumer lawyers push to consolidate lawsuits

ATTORNEYS representing people who say they were not properly warned about harsh side effects associated with blockbuster weight loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy are pushing to centralise the lawsuits in a Louisiana federal court, filings show.

About 20 lawsuits over the drugs, known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, have been filed since August against pharmaceutical companies Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, court records show. Attorneys from Morgan & Morgan, which has brought nine of the lawsuits, filed a motion on Friday (Dec 1) asking the US Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) to consolidate the litigation over the drugs in the Western District of Louisiana.

Consolidating the cases would streamline the discovery process and would prevent judges from issuing conflicting rulings. But critics of MDLs, often defendant companies, say the process can make it too easy for plaintiffs’ lawyers to file lawsuits without having support for their claims.

It is not clear how the companies in the GLP-1 receptor agonists cases will respond to the consolidation push. A spokesperson for Novo Nordisk said on Monday the company is evaluating the filing and will respond at the appropriate time.

The spokesperson also said that Novo Nordisk drugs have been extensively studied and their safety is under continuous monitoring.

Representatives for Eli Lilly did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday.

The lawsuits, which are filed on behalf of people who were prescribed the drugs to treat their diabetes or to help with weight loss, claim the companies downplayed or failed to warn consumers about the risk of side effects such as stomach paralysis and intestinal paralysis or obstruction.

The lawsuits name Novo’s drugs Ozempic, Saxenda, Rybelsus and Wegovy and Eli Lilly drugs Mounjaro and Trulicity.

The companies have refuted the claims in court filings, arguing in motions to dismiss filed in one of the earliest cases that the side effects of the drugs are well known and printed on their labels.

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Morgan & Morgan attorneys who filed the consolidation motion did not respond to requests for comment. In the filing, they said the law firm is investigating more than 10,000 claims related to the drugs.

The motion asks the panel to send the MDL, if granted, to US district judge James Cain in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Cain, who is overseeing the first lawsuit filed with the side effects claims, is currently considering the pharmaceutical companies’ bid to dismiss it, court records show.

Cameron Stephenson of Levin Papantonio Rafferty said his firm has one lawsuit filed and about 100 other cases it is investigating. Stephenson told Reuters his firm supports the MDL and the push to send it to the Western District of Louisiana.

The JPML is slated to hold its next hearing in January. REUTERS