GLP-1 drugs.
Gastrointestinal & vision-loss litigation.
Two parallel federal multi-district litigations against Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly: one consolidating gastrointestinal injury claims (MDL 3094), the other consolidating vision-loss claims for non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (MDL 3163). Both proceed before the same judge in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
The plaintiff theory.
Two injury categories. One drug class.
The GLP-1 litigation consolidates claims against Novo Nordisk (Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus, Saxenda, Victoza) and Eli Lilly (Mounjaro, Trulicity, Zepbound), brought by patients who used GLP-1 receptor agonist medications for diabetes management or weight loss. Plaintiffs allege the manufacturers failed to adequately warn patients and prescribers about two distinct categories of severe injury: gastrointestinal complications and permanent vision loss.
The gastrointestinal cases — consolidated as MDL 3094 — allege injuries including gastroparesis (stomach paralysis), ileus, bowel obstruction, severe persistent vomiting, gallbladder disease, and pancreatitis. The mechanism is grounded in the drug class's intended pharmacology: GLP-1 receptor agonists slow gastric emptying as part of how they work. Plaintiffs allege that severe persistent gastroparesis is a documented adverse event the manufacturers knew about but failed to disclose.
The vision-loss cases — consolidated separately as MDL 3163 in December 2025 — allege that semaglutide and related GLP-1 drugs caused non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), a condition that produces sudden, permanent vision loss. The European Medicines Agency added NAION as a "very rare" side effect on Ozempic, Rybelsus, and Wegovy in June 2025 — a regulatory acknowledgment that materially supports the plaintiffs' causation theory.
Procedural posture.
Two MDLs. Same judge. Different timelines.
MDL 3094 (GI injuries) is the more procedurally mature of the two, with case counts north of 3,000 and growing by roughly 200 new cases per month as of early 2026. The litigation is in the expert discovery phase, with Daubert motions and bellwether selection on the near horizon. Bellwether trials are anticipated in late 2026. Parallel state-court proceedings are also underway in New Jersey, Texas, Delaware, and Indiana.
MDL 3163 (NAION vision loss) was created in December 2025 and is in earlier procedural posture. The MDL was assigned to Judge Marston on motion of Eli Lilly, which sought to coordinate the two GLP-1 litigations before a single jurist. Recent EMA action recognizing NAION as a class side effect, combined with the permanent nature of the injury, has positioned the NAION cases as potentially the higher-value subset of the broader GLP-1 litigation.
Acquisition. Screening.
Retention.
GLP-1 intake requires careful eligibility screening across two distinct injury categories with different documentation requirements. GI cases require documented diagnosis of gastroparesis, ileus, bowel obstruction, or related conditions, with usage history establishing GLP-1 exposure preceding diagnosis. NAION cases require ophthalmologic confirmation of the diagnosis and documentation of GLP-1 use prior to the vision-loss event. The two case types route to different MDLs but share intake architecture. We have built docket-specific intake protocols and trained specialists for the medical-record retrieval each case category requires.
Acquisition runs across paid social, paid search, and connected TV, with creative built specifically for this docket and compliance review on every iteration. Every claimant flows through our multi-vendor fraud-detection suite — Anura, CHEQ, ActiveProspect, TrustedForm, Blacklist Alliance, and Plaid — before reaching the partner firm. Retained cases land directly in the firm's case management system in real time.
For partner firms holding GLP-1 dockets, we provide standing operational reporting on retained cases delivered, cost per qualified retention, and case-tier mix against your screening criteria. Strategy sessions cover docket-portfolio decisions: how to weight GI versus NAION case mix as the two MDLs mature on different timelines, how to factor the EMA NAION action into screening criteria, and how bellwether outcomes in either MDL change retention thresholds across the broader litigation.
Start a conversation.
Speak with our team.
A LeadClient case-acquisition strategist will reach out to talk through your docket.