Lawsuit Information Center
Our national mass tort lawyers are currently seeking and investigating Wegovy lawsuits for individuals who used Wegovy and subsequently developed gallbladder disease or related health conditions.’
Wegovy (semaglutide) is the brand name of a prescription drug that is used for weight loss and weight management. Wegovy has been around awhile, but recent studies have found that prolonged use of this drug can significantly increase the risk of developing gallbladder problems such as gallbladder disease, gallstones, and other issues.
Until recently, the drug label for Wegovy did not contain any warning about the potential risk of gallbladder issues. This has prompted a wave of product liability lawsuits alleging that the drug maker negligently failed to warn. Anyone who suffered gallbladder issues after using Wegovy may be able to file a Wegovy lawsuit and get financial compensation.
About Wegovy
Wegovy (semaglutide) is a prescription drug that’s used for weight loss in certain people who suffer from significant obesity. Wegovy comes as a liquid solution in a single dose pen that is taken by injection under the skin. Wegovy is part of a family of drugs called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists.
Wegovy is manufactured by a European pharmaceutical company called Novo Nordisk, which focuses primarily on the development and sale of diabetes drugs. The active compound in Wegovy (semaglutide) was originally developed and patented by Novo Nordisk back in 2012. It was originally released in the U.S. in 2017 as a diabetes drug under the brand name Ozempic. In 2021, however, Novo Nordisk obtained a new patent for Wegovy, which was a slightly different, higher-dose injection version.
Studies Link Wegovy to Gallbladder Problems
Over the last 6 years, a growing body of scientific research and clinical studies have shown that using Wegovy can lead to serious gallbladder problems such as gallstones and gallbladder disease. The first study connecting semaglutide to gallbladder disease was published back in 2017 in the journal Diabetes, Obesity & Metabolism. Although this was the first published study identifying a link between semaglutide and gallbladder disease, it is believed that Novo Nordisk knew about the risk much earlier.
The 2017 study did not draw significant attention. However, in 2022 a research letter on the subject was published in JAMA Internal Medicine, a very prominent medical journal. The letter spelled out in very clear detail how users of Ozempic and Wegovy displayed significantly higher rates of gallstones and gallbladder disease. Moreover, the conclusions in the research letter were based on data collected by the FDA.
Scientists do not fully understand exactly why Wegovy causes gallbladder problems. One theory is that Wegovy prompts the gallbladder to overproduce bile, which leads to gallstones.
Wegovy Gallbladder Lawsuits
When Wegovy (and prior to that Ozempic) was initially released in the U.S., the drug product information label said nothing about an increased risk of gallbladder disease or gallbladder issues. Doctors and patients had no knowledge of this potentially serious risk. It was not until March 2022 that Novo Nordisk formally amended the label for Wegovy to add a warning about the risk of gallbladder disease.
Individuals who used Wegovy prior to March 2022 when the new warning label was added and subsequently developed gallbladder problems could potentially bring a product liability lawsuit for negligent failure to warn. A growing number of Wegovy users have already filed lawsuits against Novo Nordisk for failing to warn about the risks of gallbladder disease.
Wegovy Class Action Lawsuit
At this point, the Wegovy gallbladder lawsuits have not been consolidated into a class action MDL. However, the number of Wegovy and Ozempic gallbladder lawsuits filed across the country is growing rapidly and is expected to increase moving forward. This means that the Wegovy and Ozempic lawsuits will mostly likely be consolidated into a new class action MDL in federal court. If that happens, there will be a consolidated discovery process, followed by bellwether test trials. The results of the test trials will be used to facilitate a global settlement in which Novo Nordisk agrees to pay a lump sum of money to settle all pending claims based on a tiered system.
Possible Settlement Payout Value of Wegovy Gallbladder Lawsuits
The Wegovy gallbladder lawsuits are very new. That makes it exceedingly difficult to provide any concrete estimate of what the potential settlement value of these cases might be because there are so many variables. At this point, we don’t even know for sure if these cases will be successful or if the scientific evidence linking Wegovy to gallbladder disease will be admissible in court. That is always a major obstacle in these types of mass torts.
That being said, our mass tort lawyers can offer a tentative estimate of how much Wegovy gallbladder cases might be worth, based on the assumption that all of the potential variables (such as admissibility of scientific evidence) are resolved favorably for the plaintiffs. Given those assumptions, we think that Wegovy gallbladder lawsuits could have a settlement value in the range of $250,000 to $525,000. This is lower than our settlement value for Ozempic cases primarily because Wegovy was only on the market for a short time before the warning label was amended. As such, Wegovy cases will be weaker cases because the exposure time is shorter.
Contact a Wegovy Gallbladder Injury Lawyer
If you have a Wegovy gallbladder lawsuit, call our Wegovy lawsuit lawyers today at 800-553-8082 or reach out to us online for a free consultation.