Pennsylvania Woman Sues Drugmaker, Claims Ozempic and Wegovy Nearly Killed Her

Ozempic and Wegovy Lawsuit

Juani­ta Gantt, a Penn­syl­va­nia mom, is suing the mak­er of Ozem­pic and Wegovy, Novo Nordisk, claim­ing the pre­scrip­tion weight loss drugs near­ly killed her.

Gantt alleges the com­pa­ny did not prop­er­ly warn her or her doc­tor about the poten­tial seri­ous side effects.

Gantt’s Harrowing Experience

Gantt said her doc­tor pre­scribed Ozem­pic and Wegovy because she had a high­er risk for dia­betes and want­ed to lose over 20 pounds. 

At first, she felt “fine” on the med­ica­tions, but in Octo­ber 2023, her hus­band found her uncon­scious on the floor. Doc­tors dis­cov­ered that sec­tions of her large intes­tine had died and need­ed to be removed.

Serious Side Effects Emerge

As Gantt was recov­er­ing from the surgery, she went into car­diac arrest. Fear­ing she could die, health offi­cials even called her daugh­ter to warn her. Gant­t’s colon was ulti­mate­ly removed, and she now must use an ileosto­my bag wher­ev­er she goes.

Lack of Proper Warnings

Gantt claims the warn­ing labels on Ozem­pic and Wegovy do not prop­er­ly inform users and doc­tors about the seri­ous poten­tial side effects, includ­ing gas­tro­pare­sis, stom­ach paral­y­sis, and bow­el obstruc­tion. She believes Novo Nordisk is respon­si­ble for her har­row­ing ordeal.

Novo Nordisk’s Response

In a state­ment to CBS News, Novo Nordisk said “the alle­ga­tions in the law­suits are with­out mer­it” and that the com­pa­ny will “vig­or­ous­ly defend against these claims.” 

The pre­scrip­tion drugs were orig­i­nal­ly devel­oped for dia­bet­ics but have seen a surge in use for weight loss in recent years.