The litany of grim medical conditions allegedly caused by Ozempic and similar weight-loss drugs have been revealed in a landmark lawsuit that claims thousands of patients have suffered life-threatening side effects.
Some users are bedridden after using the drug, while others are in constant pain and may never eat solid food again.
A patient who used Mounjaro, Eli Lilly’s leading diabetes and weight loss drug, told DailyMail.com that she can no longer consume solid foods and will likely receive food and fluids through a tube directly into her colon. small for the rest of her life.
“My life has been destroyed,” said Meredith Hotchkiss, 56.
Conditions associated with Ozempic, Mounjaro, and similar medications include gastroparesis, intestinal obstruction, and intestinal blockage. Lawyers claim the drug has also caused ‘malnutrition, dehydration, neurological disorders and even death’.
Meredith Hotchkiss, 56, told DailyMail.com that her life has been ‘destroyed’ by the alleged side effects of weight loss drug Mounjaro. She said the drug caused paralysis in her stomach and she may never eat a solid meal again
Hotchkiss, pictured with her husband James, receives most of her fluids and nutrition through an IV tube and another tube into her small intestine
Hotchkiss is one of nearly 100 patients who have joined the legal action against drug makers. Thousands of other patients who also suffered extreme side effects are expected to join the legal action as it progresses, lawyers say.
Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, the Danish company that makes Ozempic and Wegovy, are accused of failing to warn patients or doctors about certain side effects caused by the drugs.
Both companies have said they will “vigorously defend against these allegations” and deny the allegations in the lawsuit.
DailyMail.com revealed in January that patients across America have filed lawsuits against Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, including a woman who will suffer from permanent diarrhea after using Ozempic.
The cases have now been combined into a multidistrict litigation, which is similar to a class action.
A new file in the case lists the ‘most common types of injuries’ and gives some examples of patients who have been hospitalized or left permanently ill.
Hotchkiss, a nurse from Meridian, Idaho, was diagnosed with gastroparesis — a condition also known as gastric paralysis — after using Mounjaro and Trulicity, another Eli Lilly weight-loss drug, according to the filing.
She hasn’t eaten a proper meal since last February and now relies on intravenous nutrition and a feeding tube in her small intestine because she can no longer consume solid food.
“I’m angry,” she told DailyMail.com. “When you look at the side effects, it doesn’t say gastroparesis.
“My doctor didn’t tell me about gastroparesis. And you see [the companies] just by pushing these medications, even Weight Watchers as a program, they’re pushing these medications.
“It scares me that I don’t know the long-term effects and I don’t know how people will react to it.”
Drugs such as Ozempic, which is manufactured by Novo Nordisk, contain semaglutide, which mimics a hormone in the brain that regulates appetite.
Mounjaro, a diabetes and weight loss drug made by Eli Lilly, works similarly to Ozempic.
Hotchkiss was prescribed to Mounjaro from July 2022 to June 2023. She was briefly prescribed to Trulicity from December 2022 to March 2023.
She has diabetes, but the condition is ‘well controlled’ and she is given off-label medication for weight loss.
“My diabetes is very well controlled. But I thought if I can lose weight and take Mounjaro, then I can try because everyone you see is doing it,” she said.
“The doctor told me that I can lose weight and that it works very well. He said I would be really sick for four weeks and then after four weeks I would feel much better.’
After four weeks of using Mounjaro, Hotchkiss was ‘bloated, not too hungry’. She briefly stopped using the drug due to insurance issues, but resumed in early 2023 and paired it with a ‘whole food, plant-based diet’.
Meredith Hotchkiss, pictured with her husband, said the side effects of Mounjaro have been devastating
Her condition quickly deteriorated and she developed gastroparesis.
“When I started again, I just couldn’t eat anything but cottage cheese, macaroni and cheese or yogurt. “Even though I was plant-based, I couldn’t tolerate anything,” she said.
“In April I went to [a gastroenterologist]and he said I had terrible gastritis and duodenitis [inflammation in the small intestine] and everything was on. He did a gastric emptying study and it showed I had the most severe form of gastroparesis.’
Hotchkiss was fitted with a central line, which is a tube in a vein to administer food directly into her bloodstream, along with tubes in her stomach and small intestine.
She has also been hospitalized three times for suffering, including life-threatening sepsis.
Hotchkiss said she lost some weight after using the medication, but her weight has now stabilized as her body has gone into “starvation mode” and is “holding on to every calorie,” she said.
The side effects have changed his life and stopped him from doing the things he loves. Doctors have also told her that she can no longer travel abroad due to her health conditions.
‘I can’t swim, I can’t go in the water. I love swimming, I have a boat, I can’t go in the water at all. I loved swimming in the ocean,” she said.
“It affects me socially, because you go out with your friends and what do you do? You go out to dinner, or go to a barbecue… all holidays, everything revolves around food.
The other thing I worry about is whether I will live long enough to pay off the house with my husband, because I worry about him.
Dina Fioretti, 60, of Illinois, is suing Novo Nordisk over claims that Ozempic caused extreme vomiting, pain and a blocked bowel. The vomiting was so extreme that it tore his esophagus
Zakareeya Gregory was hospitalized for four weeks and had her gallbladder removed due to complications allegedly caused by her use of Ozempic.
Lawyers say Hotchkiss’ ordeal is far from unique.
The latest court filings refer to another patient, Delisa Jones, who ‘took Ozempic for several months before experiencing severe vomiting and gastrointestinal burning, leading to gastroparesis’.
Jones’ requires medication to ease the vomiting and suffers from constant, severe stomach pains that have left him essentially bedridden.
The document also refers to Billie Farley, who DailyMail.com previously reported will “never have a solid bowel movement again” due to complications allegedly caused by Ozempic.
Other patients have also told DailyMail.com of the dire consequences.
Zakareeya Gregory, 46, of Walker Mill, Maryland, said her gallbladder was removed after she suffered side effects allegedly caused by Ozempic, which she took for seven months until February 2020.
Dina Fioretti said Ozempic made her vomit so much that she suffered a ruptured esophagus and spent a week in the hospital.
The companies are accused of not properly labeling the products’ side effects and of trying to “downplay the severity of gastroparesis symptoms and neglect that they may be a feature of potentially life-threatening digestive damage.”
Eli Lilly said: ‘Patient safety is Lilly’s top priority and we are actively engaged in monitoring, evaluating and reporting safety information for all of our medicines.
Our FDA-approved labels clearly warn that tirzepatide and dulaglutide may be associated with gastrointestinal adverse reactions, sometimes severe.
Further, the labels state that tirzepatide and dulaglutide have not been studied in patients with severe gastrointestinal disease, including severe gastroparesis, and are therefore not recommended in these patients.
“These risks were widely communicated and recognized by health care providers. We are vigorously defending ourselves against these claims.’
Novo Nordisk said: ‘Novo Nordisk believes that the allegations in these lawsuits are without merit and we intend to vigorously defend against these claims.
“Patient safety is our top priority at Novo Nordisk, and we work closely with the US Food and Drug Administration to continuously monitor the safety profile of our medicines.
GLP-1 drugs have been used to treat type 2 diabetes (T2D) for more than 18 years and to treat obesity for 8 years. This includes Novo Nordisk GLP-1 products such as semaglutide and liraglutide which have been on the market for over 13 years.’
‘Semaglutide has been extensively tested in robust clinical development programs, large real-world trials and has over 9.5 million years of cumulative clinical experience.
The known risks and benefits of the drugs semaglutide and liraglutide are described in the FDA-approved product labeling.
“Novo Nordisk stands by the safety and efficacy of all our GLP-1 drugs when they are used as indicated and when taken under the care of a licensed healthcare professional.”
#Woman #longer #eat #solid #food #weight #loss #drug #caused #horrific #gut #damage #killed #thousands #suffer #devastating #side #effects #Ozempic #Mounjaro #lawsuit #claims
Image Source : www.dailymail.co.uk