Have You (or a Loved One) Suffered From Non-Arteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy (NAION), Sudden Vision Loss, Blindness or Other Eye Injury After Taking Ozempic or Other GLP-1 Medication?
GLP-1 NAION Vision loss Lawsuits & Settlements
Reviewed by Jacobs Kolton, Chtd. Attorneys at Law; Updated May 2026
The Ozempic and GLP-1 NAION lawsuits involve claims that manufacturers of GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus failed to adequately warn patients and doctors about the potential risk of developing non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), a serious eye injury that can cause sudden vision loss, optic nerve damage, partial blindness, or permanent blindness.
Our team of drug injury attorneys and class action lawyers is investigating potential GLP-1 NAION eye injury lawsuit cases and settlement claims of individuals who were diagnosed with non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) and suffered sudden vision loss, blindness, optic nerve damage or other eye injury after using Ozempic or other GLP-1 receptor agonist medications.
If you or a loved one were diagnosed with non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) or sudden vision loss after taking Ozempic, Wegovy, or other semaglutide or GLP-1 receptor agonist medication, you may be entitled to recover compensation from an Ozempic NAION lawsuit case or settlement claim.
Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy or NAION is a medical condition that involves sudden vision loss in (usually) one eye due to insufficient blood supply to the front part of the optic nerve (akin to a stroke of the optic nerve). Non-arteritic means it’s not related to inflammation of the arteries. Anterior refers to the front part of the optic nerve, where the damage occurs in NAION. Ischemic means a lack of blood supply to the tissue, which reduced blood flow to the optic nerve can lead to lack of oxygen and nutrients supply, cellular injury, tissue death and nerve damage. Optic neuropathy refers to damage or disease of the optic nerve, which carries visual information from the eye to the brain, which can result in partial or total vision loss (blindness).
According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the estimated annual incidence of NAION in the U.S. is between 2.3 and 10.3 people per 100,000 individuals per year, resulting in approximately 6,000 new NAION cases each year, making it the most common cause of acute optic neuropathy in patients over the age of 50.
Unfortunately, recent studies have found that the use of certain GLP-1 receptor agonist medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus and other GLP-1 medications may be associated with an increased risk of developing non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy or NAION.
Patients diagnosed with NAION are now coming forward and filing Ozempic GLP-1 NAION eye injury lawsuits seeking compensation and justice for the harm and suffering they may have endured.
Ozempic NAION Vision Loss Lawsuits: Overview
- What Is The Ozempic NAION Eye Injury Lawsuit About?
- What Is Non-Arteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy (NAION)?
- What Are GLP-1 Agonist Medications (e.g., Ozempic, Wegovy)?
- Who May Be Eligible For a NAION Lawsuit or Settlement?
- Can Ozempic and Other Semaglutide Drugs Cause NAION?
- What Are Possible Signs or Symptoms of NAION?
- What Are Potential Complications Of NAION?
- Are There Medical Treatments For NAION?
- What is The Status of The GLP-1 NAION Eye Injury Litigation?
- Can I Recover Compensation From an Ozempic NAION Lawsuit?
- Is There A Deadline To File an Ozempic Vision Loss Lawsuit?
- Request A Free Case Review From A NAION Injury Lawyer
NAION Eye Injury Lawsuit & Settlement Cases
NAION lawsuit and settlement cases potentially being investigated include claims of individuals who, after taking Ozempic, Wegovy or other semaglutide or GLP-1 medications to treat diabetes or obesity, were diagnosed with non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy:
- Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy
- NAION
- Non-arteritic AION
- Ischemic optic neuropathy
- Papillitis ischemica
- Anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION):
- Eye stroke
- Optic disc infarction
- Disc edema with ischemic etiology
- Optic nerve damage
- Sudden vision loss
- Blindness
- Other eye injury lawsuit cases
If you or someone you love took Ozempic, Wegovy, or other GLP-1 medications and were later diagnosed with NAION, you may qualify to recover money from an Ozempic NAION lawsuit or settlement case.
GLP-1 NAION Lawsuit & Settlement Updates
Updates about GLP-1 NAION lawsuits and settlements include:
- March 2026: On March 16, 2026, Judge Karen Spencer Marston entered an order scheduling a Science Day for June 2, 2026. Science Day allows attorneys and experts to educate the court about the medical and scientific issues involved in the GLP-1 NAION litigation.
- December 2025: On December 15, 2025, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation entered an order centralizing GLP-1 NAION lawsuits filed or pending in federal court for pre-trial proceedings in an MDL, styled as In Re: Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists (GLP-1 RAS) Non-Arteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy Products Liability Litigation, MDL Case No. 3163, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Judge Karen S. Marston). The JPML found that the GLP-1 NAION lawsuits shared common questions of fact, including allegations that Plaintiffs’ use of certain GLP-1 RA drugs caused them to suffer from non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION). The GLP-1 NAION litigation is being handled separately from the earlier GLP-1 gastrointestinal injury MDL.
- August 2025: As more GLP-1 vision loss lawsuits were filed, parties asked the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to centralize NAION cases. The proposed litigation involved claims that GLP-1 medications caused non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy and that manufacturers failed to properly warn about this alleged risk.
- Late 2024 to 2025: After a GLP-1 NAION study was published potentially linking semaglutide GLP-1 medications to a higher risk of developing NAION, lawsuits and investigations began focusing on whether manufacturers failed to adequately warn about the risk of sudden vision loss, optic nerve damage, and permanent blindness.
Studies Linking Ozempic/GLP-1 to NAION
Several recent studies have found a potential link between semaglutide (the active ingredient in Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus) and non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), including:
| Medical Study or Warning | Summary |
|---|---|
| British Journal of Ophthalmology, Lakhani et al., “Ischaemic optic neuropathy with semaglutide: global observational analysis of sex- and formulation-specific risk,” March 2026 | This global pharmacovigilance study analyzed 30 million reports from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (2017–2024) and found that ischemic optic neuropathy was reported about 18.8 times more often with Ozempic and 74.89 times more often with Wegovy than expected based on reporting patterns for other drugs/adverse events in the database. |
| JAMA Ophthalmology, Heberer et al., “New-Onset Nonarteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy and Initiators of Semaglutide in US Veterans With Type 2 Diabetes,” 2026 | In a nationwide cohort of U.S. veterans with type 2 diabetes, semaglutide initiators had a 2.33-fold higher NAION risk than SGLT2 inhibitor initiators. |
| MHRA Drug Safety Update, February 2026 | The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency warned that NAION has been reported with semaglutide used for type 2 diabetes, weight management and cardiovascular risk reduction. MHRA advised urgent ophthalmology referral for sudden or partial vision loss and discontinuation of semaglutide if NAION is confirmed. |
| JAMA Ophthalmology, Hsu et al., “Semaglutide and Nonarteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy,” 2025 | This cohort study that analyzed health records of over 37 million people with type 2 diabetes found that semaglutide use was associated with increased NAION risk in patients with diabetes at the 2-year, 3-year, and 4-year time points. Researchers found that patients on semaglutide had a 32% increased relative risk of developing NAION compared to those not taking the drug. The study also found that semaglutide users did not have a significantly increased risk compared to users of other GLP-1 medications, suggesting the possibility that other GLP-1 medications may also be linked to an increased risk of NAION. |
| Medical Study or Warning Summary JAMA Ophthalmology, Hathaway et al., “Risk of Nonarteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy in Patients Prescribed Semaglutide,” 2024 | This matched cohort study found a potential association between semaglutide use and increased NAION risk. The reported hazard ratio was 4.28 among patients with type 2 diabetes and 7.64 among patients who were overweight or obese. |
| University of Southern Denmark / Danish and Norwegian Cohort Studies, 2024 | Researchers analyzing Danish and Norwegian diabetes patients reported that Ozempic or semaglutide use was associated with approximately double the risk of developing NAION compared with other diabetes medications. |
NAION Signs & Symptoms
NAION signs and symptoms can potentially include:
- Sudden vision loss in one eye
- Painless loss of vision
- Monocular vision loss
- Visual field defects
- Dark or shadowy areas in vision
- Altitudinal field defect
- Loss of vision in lower half of visual field
- Loss of vision in upper half visual field
- Blind spot in center of field of vision (central scotoma)
- Loss of vision in the outer parts of the visual field
- Peripheral vision loss
- Pale optic nerve head
- Pallor of the optic disc
- Optic disc edema (optic disc swelling)
- Optic nerve swollen
- Optic atrophy
- Optic nerve fibers degenerate
- Decreased visual acuity
- Reduction sharpness of vision
- Blood vessel abnormalities
- Peripapillary hemorrhage (bleeding)
- Optic disc hemorrhage
- Decreased color vision
- Absence of inflammation of the eye
- Afferent pupillary defect (APD) / Marcus Gunn Pupil
- Other NAION symptoms or signs
Procedures and tests used by ophthalmologists (or neuro-ophthalmologists) to diagnose NAION can include a comprehensive eye exam (including visual acuity, color vision testing, pupil examination for an afferent pupillary defect, and dilated funduscopic examination to view the optic nerve), visual field testing, optical coherence tomography (OCT) of the optic nerve head and retinal nerve fiber layer, fluorescein angiography to assess optic nerve blood flow and blood tests to rule out other conditions.
NAION Complications
Complications from NAION can potentially include:
- Permanent vision loss
- Optic nerve atrophy
- Long-term vision impairment
- Blurred or foggy vision
- Seeing dark shadows
- Increased sensitivity to light
- Progressive vision loss in the other eye
- Cognitive impairment
- Psychosocial impact
- Emotional distress
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Reduced quality of life due to impaired vision
- Chronic eye fatigue
- Strain in the remaining functional eye
- Headaches
- Other NAION eye injury complications
NAION Treatments
There is currently no proven cure for NAION, and treatment options are limited. Depending on the patient’s condition, doctors may focus on managing vascular risk factors, monitoring the affected and unaffected eye, and evaluating possible interventions on a case-by-case basis such as prescribing medication such as corticosteroids (e.g., prednisone) to reduce inflammation and improve blood flow to the optic nerve, anticoagulants (e.g., aspirin) to help prevent blood clots that could block blood flow to the optic nerve and angiogenesis inhibitors (e.g., bevacizumab) to try to block the growth of abnormal blood vessels that can damage the optic nerve; and optic nerve decompression surgery to try to relieve pressure on the optic nerve.
If you or a loved one were diagnosed with non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy or NAION after taking Ozempic, Wegovy, semaglutide or other GLP-1 receptor agonist medications, you may be entitled to compensation from a NAION lawsuit or settlement. Contact a drug injury lawyer to request a free case review.
*If you or a loved one are experiencing health issues, side effects or complications after taking a prescription drug or medication, we urge you to promptly consult with your doctor or physician for an evaluation.
**The listing of a company (e.g., Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly) or product (e.g., Ozempic, Mounjaro, Wegovy, Rybelsus, Trulicity, Saxenda or Zepbound) is not meant to state or imply that the company acted illegally or improperly or that the product is unsafe or defective; rather only that an investigation may be, is or was being conducted to determine whether legal rights have been violated.
***The use of any trademarks, tradenames or service marks is solely for product identification and/or informational purposes.
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