Judge names plaintiff leadership team in federal GLP-1 vision loss litigation over Ozempic
The appointment puts one set of lawyers in charge of coordinating federal NAION claims against Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly as the case count grows toward a key science hearing.
Judge Karen S. Marston has appointed the plaintiffs' leadership team in the federal consolidation of claims that GLP-1 medications caused a sudden form of vision loss. Parvin Aminolroaya of the firm Seeger Weiss is among the co-lead counsel for the group, known as MDL 3163 [1]. A complete list of the appointees has not been reported.
The MDL was created on December 15, 2025, and gathers federal NAION lawsuits before Judge Marston in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania [1]. It is separate from MDL 3094, the older group covering stomach paralysis and bowel injuries from the same drug class, though both are before the same judge and involve the same two companies [1]. Defendants include Novo Nordisk, the maker of Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus (all semaglutide), and Eli Lilly, the maker of Mounjaro and Zepbound (both tirzepatide) [1]. Tirzepatide is a dual GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonist rather than a pure GLP-1 drug [1].
NAION, or non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, occurs when blood flow to the front of the optic nerve is disrupted [1]. Vision loss is typically sudden, painless and permanent, and often noticed on waking. The condition affects about 21,000 Americans a year, and the second eye is affected in 15 to 25 percent of cases over five years [1]. There is no effective treatment [1].
The case count is climbing. MDL 3163 had 216 pending actions as of September 2026, up from 86 in May 2026 and 21 in December 2025 [1]. Drugwatch, which tracks the litigation, counts more than 200 NAION cases in federal court and 4,022 GLP-1 lawsuits overall as of September 2026 [2]. No global settlements have been announced [2].
The claims center on failure to warn. A Harvard Medical School and Mass Eye and Ear study published in JAMA Ophthalmology in July 2024 followed 16,827 patients and found NAION risk 4.28 times higher in patients with type 2 diabetes, with a cumulative incidence of 8.9 percent versus 1.8 percent, and 7.64 times higher in patients using the drugs for weight loss, at 6.7 percent versus 0.8 percent [1]. Two later studies found smaller increases: a February 2025 analysis of 37.1 million patients reported an incidence rate ratio of 1.32, and a December 2024 Danish-Norwegian study of more than 424,000 patients found a 2.19 times higher risk compared with SGLT2 inhibitors [1]. Defendants are expected to point to conditions such as diabetes as other possible causes [1].
Europe's drug regulator added NAION as a "very rare" side effect to semaglutide labels in June 2025 [1]. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration had not added a NAION warning to GLP-1 labels as of September 2026 [1]. The Ozempic label lists "vision changes" as a potential serious side effect and discusses diabetic retinopathy, but does not name NAION [2].
Why it matters for patients
The practical effect of the leadership appointment is procedural: it puts one set of lawyers in charge of coordinating discovery and expert testimony across all the federal NAION claims instead of letting the cases proceed separately [1]. Drugwatch notes that consolidation makes it easier for lawyers to coordinate, for courts to issue consistent rulings, and for plaintiffs to negotiate [2]. The litigation does not change what the labels say, and the FDA has not added NAION to U.S. product information [1]. The European Medicines Agency's 2025 decision advises patients to stop the medication if NAION is confirmed [1].
Whether the drugs cause NAION remains contested. The manufacturers have not conceded a link, and the studies differ in size and design, which is why the judge has scheduled scientific presentations before any trial schedule is set [1]. NAION cases are still being filed, and the consolidated group also covers people who were prescribed the drugs for weight loss rather than diabetes [1].
What happens next
Judge Marston has set a Science Day for June 2, 2026, when both sides present non-adversarial scientific evidence on whether the drugs cause NAION. It is widely seen as the gate before any case-management or bellwether-selection schedule is set [1]. Discovery and bellwether selection are expected to follow that hearing, and bellwether trials in the NAION MDL are likely years away; the related gastrointestinal MDL may hold bellwethers in mid-2026 [1]. A separate state-level consolidation of NAION and gastrointestinal claims in New Jersey was granted in November 2025 [1].
Sources
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