Ozempic maker sued over weight loss drug claims it led to a woman’s colon

A woman is suing the maker of Ozempic, saying she had to have her colon removed after complications from taking the weight loss medication.

Juanita Gantt, 62, was prescribed Wegovy and then Ozempic, both made by Novo Nordisk, after her doctor admitted that, due to her family history of diabetes and weight At 242 lbs, he was a great candidate.

He said: “I felt good Morning on CBS on Thursday. “I enjoyed the days when I didn’t have to worry about my appetite. I had no desire, I felt like I was doing something good for myself. ”

But it wasn’t until a few months later, in October 2023, that he would have terrible medical problems, which he said were side effects of the medication.

Now, Gantt says the drug’s packaging fails to warn people about potential side effects, and has asked for an undisclosed amount in his lawsuit.

And she says she was rushed to the hospital after her husband found her unconscious on the ground, where doctors reportedly found parts of her large intestine had died and needed to be removed.

Gantt also said that while he was recovering from surgery, he had a heart attack.

He now lives with an ileostomy bag, which collects his waste from the opening in his stomach that doctors made by moving part of his intestine through the skin to create a stoma.

He said: “I had no warning that this could happen.

Independent contacted Novo Nordisk and Gantt for comment.

The Danish pharmaceutical company makes Ozempic and Wegovy – two of the three FDA-approved weight loss products available in the US.

Semaglutide, a hormone naturally secreted by the stomach when a person eats, is listed as an active ingredient in the Ozempic and Wegovy vaccines.

It works by causing the body to produce more insulin (thereby lowering blood sugar levels) and, at high doses, it can also “interact with parts of the brain that reduce appetite and signal feeling full,” according to Food and Drug. Administration.

The use of diabetes medications for weight loss has been on the rise as celebrities talk about using drugs to lose weight.

In conversation with People in 2023, Oprah Winfrey revealed that she was taking a weight-loss drug “as a control tool and not for yo-yoing,” but she didn’t say which one.

Last year, Sharon Osbourne admitted that she uses Ozempic, but she mentioned stores, including Caretaker in February, that he lost 42 lbs – “too much.”

Ozempic hit the headlines last year when some patients claimed to be suffering from gastroparesis (paralysis of the stomach) – where the digestive system can be slowed to a potentially dangerous level – from it.

2022 journal article from Drug Design, Development and Therapysays that gastrointestinal side effects from semaglutide are “common,” citing constipation, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting — which in addition to side effects can be a sign of ” delayed gastric emptying” according to the American Society of Anesthesiologists.

There is also concern about gangs distributing dangerous counterfeit versions of the world-famous drug using fake batch numbers.