A Massachusetts father is suing the maker of weight loss drug Ozempic over claims taking it made him go permanently blind - and says the disability made his girlfriend dump him.
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girlfriend → sue → him
Ed Gillen, 58, woke up with a small speck in his vision in May 2025 and says that his vision rapidly deteriorated.
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vision → wake → May
He completely lost his eyesight just weeks later, according to his legal filing.
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He → lose → filing
His vision has never returned and Gillen must now walk with a white cane.
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Gillen → return → cane
Gillen, who is diabetic, said he had been taking Ozempic for around a year to manage his A1C blood sugar levels, and had believed they were a 'magic pill' that would solve his health issues, he wrote in a lawsuit against the drug's Danish manufacturer Novo Nordisk.
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he → say → manufacturer
Gillen said he had no idea the popular weight loss drug could allegedly cause vision loss, and said there was 'no warning' before the speck in his eye quickly turned to total blindness, according to his legal filing.
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speck → say → filing
'Within a two week period, I went from seeing to not seeing,' he told the Daily Mail.
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he → go → Mail
'I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.
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I → wish → enemy
The father-of-four said the condition has changed 'everything' for him and triggered the end of his 14 year relationship with his girlfriend.
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condition → say → girlfriend
'It was overwhelming (for her),' he said.
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he → say → her
Gillen told the Daily Mail of how he now has to navigate the world in complete darkness 'by sound and touch.
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he → tell → sound
Ed Gillen has filed a lawsuit claiming that weight loss drug Ozempic cost him his eyesight
Gillen told the Daily Mail that his girlfriend dumped him because she was unable to cope with his new disability
Gillen said when doctors prescribed Ozempic to him to help with his diabetes, labels on the drugs only noted that 'vision change' was a 'risk factor', and never warned that total blindness was even possible, according to his lawsuit.
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blindness → file → lawsuit
He was diagnosed with non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), an irreversible condition that cannot be treated, his filing alleges.
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filing → diagnose → neuropathy
Gillen said it has been worrying to see the boom in popularity for Ozempic and other GLP-1 medications among celebrities and in popular culture, and he warned other users to 'find another option.
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he → say → option
'
'Don't think this can't happen to you, because that's what I thought,' he said.
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he → think → what
He said that he has 'moved on' from the breakup with an 'amazing' new woman, who is helping him come to terms with his new life.
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him → say → life
Before his sudden blindness, Gillen said he was a 'very handy' man who was 'very skilled in the trades', but the condition forced him to change everything, including giving up his 39-year career as a state highway worker operating heavy machinery.
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condition → say → machinery
A fundraiser has been set up to help Gillen rebuild his life, and he said he has been left to wait for retirement benefits from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, a process that he said has been made harder through his blindness.
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he → set → blindness
'It's a big waiting game, because you can't visualize even trying to answer emails,' he said.
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he → visualize → emails
'You have to do everything by sound and touch.'
Gillen is suing Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of Ozempic (an Ozempic shot is pictured in this file photo)
Gillen pictured at the graduation of his daughter, which he said was difficult because he 'couldn't visually see' the major family milestone
Gillen said he has been forced to give up his volunteer role as a softball coach, and his four-decade career working with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation
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he → have → Transportation
In his attempts to re-learn how to navigate life, Gillen attended the Carroll Center for the Blind, which he said taught him new skills such as how to use his phone without any vision.
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he → re → vision
'They taught me how to use your phone through finger scrolling and tapping,' he said.
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he → teach → scrolling
'With Android they use TalkBack, so it's you utilize Google Gemini a lot.
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you → use → Gemini
You utilize ChatGPT a lot, and the Carol Center gave me the tools to learn that, and then I went and learned most of it on my own.
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I → utilize → own
I'm pretty tech savvy, so it helped.'
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it → help → ?
But Gillen said while he was taught 'a little bit of everyday skills', after he left the facility he realized he had to 'figure out a lot on your own.'
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he → say → own
'The hardest thing is adjusting to not being able to just get in your car and go to the store, not being able to get in your car and maybe go get the coffee,' he told the Daily Mail.
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he → adjust → Mail
I was at my daughter's graduation, but I couldn't visually see it...
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I → see → it
If you don't have a strong will, determination, or heart for this, you're not going to make it.
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you → have → it
Gillen is one of dozens of people who have filed lawsuits against Ozempic manufacturer Novo Nordisk over claims that the medication caused blindness.
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medication → file → blindness
Novo Nordisk has previously said that its own internal safety studies did not find any increased risk of vision loss as a result of Ozempic medication.
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studies → say → medication
'There are no indications that we should really be worried about NAION,' Dr. Tina Vilsbøll, senior medical officer at Novo and lead author on the study, told the Wall Street Journal.
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Vilsbøll → be → Journal
'I do not see causality.'
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I → see → causality
Gillen says he has been left to navigate the world in darkness, and said he misses his previous life as a 'handy man'
Novo Nordisk told the Daily Mail: 'Novo believes the personal injury lawsuits filed in the U.S. are without merit and is vigorously defending them.
'
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lawsuits → say → them
Novo is aware of reports and epidemiological data concerning non-arteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy (NAION) in patients treated with semaglutide.
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Novo → concern → semaglutide
The available clinical, epidemiological and post-marketing data are being continuously assessed, and a causal relationship between semaglutide and NAION has not been established.
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relationship → assess → semaglutide
'Patient safety is a top priority for Novo and we take all reports of adverse events associated with our medicines very seriously, collaborating closely with health authorities and regulatory bodies worldwide.
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we → take → authorities
In Gillen's lawsuit, he accused the company of 'efforts to conceal or minimize the risks associated with taking their drugs.'
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he → accuse → drugs
He accused the company of not warning users that NAION was a possibility, and said it marketed the drugs as 'magic pills to help a person lose weight.'
According to the Wall Street Journal, upwards of 200 lawsuits have been filed against Novo Nordisk over claims that its GLP-1 drugs have caused vision loss.
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drugs → accuse → loss
'Are people going to stop people from taking it?
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people → go → it
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
