What Zepbound Is
Zepbound is a GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist manufactured by Eli Lilly that is prescribed for chronic weight management in adults with obesity or overweight with at least one weight-related condition. It works by mimicking hormones that slow gastric emptying and regulate appetite — the same mechanism that plaintiffs allege causes the drug’s most serious gastrointestinal injuries.
Latest Updates
As of October 2026, GLP-1 drug injury cases — including those involving Zepbound and its sister drug Mounjaro (also tirzepatide) — have been consolidated into two federal multi-district litigation (MDL) proceedings, with one lead attorney alone representing 247 NAION plaintiffs and more than 4,000 plaintiffs alleging serious digestive conditions including gastroparesis and ileus; Eli Lilly has stated it will vigorously defend against all claims [1][2]. Hundreds of additional lawsuits focus specifically on NAION, citing a JAMA Ophthalmology study that identified higher rates of the condition among diabetic patients taking semaglutide and FDA adverse event data reporting more than 1,000 optic neuropathy incidents linked to GLP-1 drugs since 2024, with NAION still not appearing on Zepbound’s U.S. warning label [3].
Gastroparesis: When the Stomach Stops Working
Gastroparesis — commonly called stomach paralysis — occurs when the muscles of the stomach wall stop contracting effectively, causing food to remain in the stomach for hours or days rather than moving into the small intestine on a normal schedule. Patients with Zepbound-linked gastroparesis have reported severe nausea and vomiting, inability to eat, dangerous weight loss, and hospitalizations for dehydration and malnutrition that persist long after the drug is stopped.
Lawsuits allege that Eli Lilly knew or should have known that tirzepatide’s gastric-slowing mechanism could trigger persistent, severe gastroparesis in some patients — and that the company’s warnings were inadequate relative to the severity and duration of the condition that some users experienced.
Intestinal Blockage and Ileus
Ileus is a condition in which the intestinal muscles cease moving contents through the bowel — not a mechanical obstruction, but a functional shutdown of intestinal motility — which can cause severe abdominal distension, pain, vomiting, and, if untreated, intestinal perforation. Lawsuits allege that Eli Lilly’s U.S. labeling contained no warning for ileus prior to 2023, leaving patients and prescribers without information about a risk that required hospitalization and in some cases emergency surgery.
Like gastroparesis, ileus is mechanistically consistent with how tirzepatide works — a drug that slows gut motility as its primary function carries a foreseeable risk of excessive motility suppression in susceptible patients. Plaintiffs allege that Lilly’s failure to warn of this risk before 2023 constituted a defective and inadequate warning under product liability law.
NAION: Vision Loss With No Cure
Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) is a sudden loss of blood flow to the optic nerve that causes rapid, painless vision loss — typically in one eye first — with no known treatment and no guarantee that vision will return. One plaintiff documented in GLP-1 litigation lost vision in one eye while taking a GLP-1 drug, continued the medication on his physician’s advice, and subsequently lost vision in the other eye, leaving him legally blind.
Unlike the gastrointestinal injuries, NAION does not appear on Zepbound’s U.S. warning label as of the date of this publication, despite European regulators having updated GLP-1 labels to reflect the risk and despite the FDA conducting its own ongoing study of the association. Lawsuits against Eli Lilly allege that the company failed to disclose the NAION risk to patients and physicians even as the evidence linking GLP-1 drugs to the condition accumulated in the medical literature.
Can I File a Lawsuit?
If you developed gastroparesis, ileus, intestinal blockage, NAION, or other serious complications while taking Zepbound, you may have a product liability or failure-to-warn claim against Eli Lilly. Contact a drug injury attorney as soon as possible, as state filing deadlines apply and the MDL proceedings are actively developing.
References
1. https://www.wamc.org/2026-10-10/ongoing-lawsuits-allege-glp-1s-can-cause-serious-harm-but-we-dont-know-how-often
2. https://www.johnsonbecker.com/?p=7573
3. https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2026/09/22/hundreds-lawsuits-allege-glp-1s-like-ozempic-wegovy-mounjaro-caused-permanent-vision-loss/