Ozempic side effects 'well-known', Novo Nordisk argues

The Danish drugmaker filed a motion to dismiss Jaclyn Bjorklund’s lawsuit against the company on Friday in Louisiana federal court. Bjorklund said that while taking the drug for Type 2 Diabetes she developed gastroparesis, a slowdown in the emptying of the stomach into the small intestine, that led to her vomiting and pain.

The company in its motion to dismiss said the delay is actually part of how the drug works to improve blood sugar management. It also said that her symptoms were “extensively discussed” on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approved label for the drug. Novo further argued that the Louisiana law Bjorklund cites in her lawsuit doesn't require physicians to be warned "about known risks such as the well-known side effects of Ozempic and Mounjaro she claims to have experienced."

Bjorklund’s attorneys at Morgan & Morgan did not immediately respond to requests for comment about Novo Nordisk’s filing. Attorneys for Novo Nordisk directed a request for comment to the company, which did not respond.

Court records show Bjorklund was one of the first people to sue Novo Nordisk about the side effects associated with Ozempic, which is among several drugs originally developed to help treat diabetes that have boomed in popularity because of their effectiveness in helping with weight loss. At least two similar lawsuits are pending, one in Louisiana federal court and one in Pennsylvania federal court, records show.

Morgan & Morgan, which is representing Bjorklund, and several other plaintiffs’ firms said they are investigating other claims by consumers alleging adverse effects from the drugs.

Novo makes Ozempic and Wegovy, a version of the drug that is specific for weight loss, and Eli Lilly makes diabetes drug Mounjaro.

Bjorklund, who filed her lawsuit in August claiming the companies downplayed the severity of the side effects, sued both Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, saying she took Ozempic and Mounjaro before experiencing the severe vomiting and pain that sent her to the hospital and also caused her to lose teeth.

Eli Lilly’s motion to dismiss, filed in October, claims the severe problems Bjorklund said she experienced began before she took Mounjaro. The company also argues that the symptoms she described are known and described in the drug’s label.

A spokesperson for Eli Lilly said the lawsuit lacks merit.

The case is Jaclyn Bjorklund v. Novo Nordisk, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, No. 2:23-cv-01020.

For Bjorklund: Rene Rocha, Mike Morgan, Jonathan Sedgh, Josh Autry and Paul Pennock of Morgan & Morgan

For Novo Nordisk: Paige Sensenbrenner and Diana Cole Surprenant of Adams and Reese; and Loren Brown of DLA Piper

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