---
title: "Ozempic blindness suits top 200 as Novo Nordisk spends DKK 11 billion on buybacks"
description: "Maria David Patten says Ozempic left her permanently blind on a label that never mentioned the risk. Europe ordered semaglutide labels updated in 2025; the FDA has not, and the suits now top 200 while Novo returns cash to shareholders."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Health"
published: 2026-10-31T15:21:08.544Z
modified: 2026-10-31T15:21:08.544Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/ozempic-blindness-suits-top-200-as-novo-nordisk-spends-dkk-11-billion-on-buybacks
language: en
keywords: "Novo Nordisk, Ozempic, GLP-1, Drug Safety, Lawsuits"
---

# Ozempic blindness suits top 200 as Novo Nordisk spends DKK 11 billion on buybacks

> Maria David Patten says Ozempic left her permanently blind on a label that never mentioned the risk. Europe ordered semaglutide labels updated in 2025; the FDA has not, and the suits now top 200 while Novo returns cash to shareholders.

## A label with no mention of blindness

Maria David Patten, a Nevada woman, injected [Ozempic](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/novo-nordisk) from August 2022 [1]. In October 2023 her sight failed suddenly [1]. Doctors diagnosed non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), a blockage of blood to the optic nerve, and told her the loss was permanent; it kept worsening [1].

On October 19 she sued Novo Nordisk, the Danish maker of Ozempic, in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for failure to warn and fraudulent concealment, seeking punitive damages, over a warning label [her complaint](https://www.aboutlawsuits.com/ozempic-wegovy-mounjaro-lawsuit/ozempic-blindness-lawsuit-novo-nordisk-naion-risks/) says still never mentions NAION [1]. The case joins the GLP-1 multidistrict litigation before US District Judge Karen Marston, where stomach-paralysis trials are expected to reach juries first [1].

## Europe relabeled in 2025; the FDA has not

The complaint says the eye's GLP-1 receptors were documented by 2016, the first optic-ischemic report dates to 2012, a semaglutide-specific case to 2019, and a July 2024 Harvard study found patients on Ozempic or Wegovy seven times more likely to develop NAION than patients on other treatments [1].

Europe's medicines regulator [concluded in June 2025 that NAION is a very rare side effect of semaglutide](https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/news/prac-concludes-eye-condition-naion-very-rare-side-effect-semaglutide-medicines-ozempic-rybelsus-wegovy), up to one case in 10,000 and roughly double the risk in type 2 diabetes, and ordered the EU product information updated [2]. The FDA does not require NAION on the US label, and [its Sentinel review of the signal is still open](https://abcnews.com/US/glp-1-users-potential-risk-rare-type-vision/story?id=136635318) [3]. [More than 200 NAION suits now sit in federal court](https://nypost.com/2026/09/30/health/dad-says-he-went-permanently-blind-in-lawsuit-against-ozempic-makers/) [4].

## One cash engine, two claims on it

Novo has [fallen more than 60% in two years](https://nai500.com/blog/2026/10/novo-nordisk-shares-fall-over-60-can-its-2030-targets-help-drive-a-recovery/) and trades near 12 times forward earnings against a 19.2 healthcare average, a discount the market explains with [Eli Lilly](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/eli-lilly) and a 2032 patent cliff, not courtrooms [5][6].

On September 21 it [promised five or more new blockbusters by 2030](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/21/novo-nordisk-stock-sales-target-obesity-drugs.html) and DKK 150 billion of pipeline sales by 2035; the stock fell 7.7%, with 2026 guidance for sales and operating profit down 6% to flat [6]. Since February it has [bought DKK 11.19 billion of its own stock](https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/novo-nordisk-share-repurchase-programme-155700019.html), averaging DKK 277.78 a share, under a DKK 15 billion program [7].

*Chart: **Novo's quarterly sales fell year-on-year in Q2 2026, and operating income followed** Line chart of Novo Nordisk quarterly revenue and operating income from Q3 2023 to Q2 2026, in billions of US dollars, showing revenue turning down in Q2 2026.*

*Novo's quarterly sales fell year-on-year in Q2 2026, and operating income followed [8]*

## What the defense does not price

Novo calls the US personal-injury suits without merit and cites 58 million patient-years of drug exposure [4]; US eye societies say causation is unproven and the risk magnitude low [3]. Both can hold and still leave the tail unpriced. The same quarterly cash engine that funds the buyback funds whatever the bellwethers award. The next readings are dated: Marston's trial schedule [1], the FDA's Sentinel conclusion [3], and Novo's own quarterly report before the November 5 to 9 liver congress [9].

*Chart: **The cash engine that funds the buyback also funds whatever the NAION bellwethers award** Line chart of Novo Nordisk quarterly operating cash flow and free cash flow from Q3 2023 to Q2 2026, in billions of dollars, showing the quarterly cash engine that funds the buyback and the litigation risk.*

*Quarterly operating and free cash flow, USD billions. Source: Novo Nordisk quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 31 October 2026. [10]*

## Takeaway

Europe relabeled semaglutide for NAION in 2025, the FDA has not, and more than 200 US blindness suits are piling up while Novo Nordisk has bought back DKK 11 billion of stock since February. Watch Judge Marston's trial schedule and the FDA's still-open Sentinel review.

## Sources

1. [AboutLawsuits.com, "Ozempic Blindness Lawsuit Alleges Novo Nordisk Concealed NAION Risks", 30 October 2026](https://www.aboutlawsuits.com/ozempic-wegovy-mounjaro-lawsuit/ozempic-blindness-lawsuit-novo-nordisk-naion-risks/)
2. [European Medicines Agency, "PRAC concludes eye condition NAION is a very rare side effect of semaglutide medicines Ozempic, Rybelsus and Wegovy", 6 June 2025](https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/news/prac-concludes-eye-condition-naion-very-rare-side-effect-semaglutide-medicines-ozempic-rybelsus-wegovy)
3. [ABC News, "What GLP-1 users should know about the potential risk of a rare type of vision loss", 21 September 2026](https://abcnews.com/US/glp-1-users-potential-risk-rare-type-vision/story?id=136635318)
4. [New York Post, "Dad claims he went suddenly, permanently blind from Ozempic, in one of hundreds of lawsuits against GLP-1 makers", 30 September 2026](https://nypost.com/2026/09/30/health/dad-says-he-went-permanently-blind-in-lawsuit-against-ozempic-makers/)
5. [NAI500, "Novo Nordisk Shares Fall Over 60%, Can Its 2030 Targets Help Drive a Recovery?", 30 October 2026](https://nai500.com/blog/2026/10/novo-nordisk-shares-fall-over-60-can-its-2030-targets-help-drive-a-recovery/)
6. [CNBC, "Novo shares slide as drugmaker lays out post-Wegovy growth strategy", 21 September 2026](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/21/novo-nordisk-stock-sales-target-obesity-drugs.html)
7. [Novo Nordisk company announcement No 63/2026, "Share repurchase programme", 26 October 2026, via Yahoo Finance UK](https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/novo-nordisk-share-repurchase-programme-155700019.html)
8. [Novo Nordisk quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 31 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000353278)
9. [ad-hoc-news.de, "Novo Nordisk's Buyback, a Pediatric Insulin Approval and the Retatrutide Question All Point to November", 31 October 2026](https://www.ad-hoc-news.de/boerse/news/unternehmensnachrichten/novo-nordisk-s-buyback-a-pediatric-insulin-approval-and-the-retatrutide-question-all-point-to/70437667)
10. [Novo Nordisk, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 31 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000353278)


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Ozempic blindness suits top 200 as Novo Nordisk spends DKK 11 billion on buybacks — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/ozempic-blindness-suits-top-200-as-novo-nordisk-spends-dkk-11-billion-on-buybacks