Weight loss drugs like Ozempic are some of the most in-demand drugs on the market - prescribed for everything from diabetes to weight loss.

But a growing number of patients claim Ozempic can come with a terrifying side effect: Irreversible vision loss.

Edward Fanelli, a former contractor from Freehold, New Jersey, said he was prescribed Ozempic to manage his diabetes, but within months, his vision went dark - forcing him to give up his career.

"Not even six to eight months later, I, out of nowhere, I could not see out of my right eye," he says. "I couldn't take a chance do the contracting work, worried about cutting my fingers off."

Fanelli says he was diagnosed with non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), a sudden on-set condition with no cure.

He is the first patient in New Jersey to file a lawsuit in state court against the makers of Ozempic, claiming he was never warned the blockbuster drug could lead to irreversible vision loss. "If they would have told me a chance I could lose my vision, I would not have taken it. Don't care - weight loss would have done on my own," he says.

He’s not alone.

Long Island-based attorney Jason Goldstein, of Parker Waichman LLP, represents more than a dozen clients, including Fanelli, in lawsuits that center on semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and similar drugs, which has now been linked in medical literature to NAION.

Goldstein claims the drugmakers failed to warn patients.

"That's the crux of this case, people are not warned about this. What did the doctor know? What did the patient know? No one knew," he says.

Goldstein says he will be pushing for updated warning labels and compensation so future patients don't find themselves negatively impacted by a drug they thought would help.

A Novo Nordisk spokesperson released the following statement:

"NAION is a very rare eye disease, and it is not an adverse drug reaction for the marketed formulations of semaglutide (Ozempic®, Rybelsus® and Wegovy®) as per the approved labels. After a thorough evaluation of studies from the University of Southern Denmark and Novo Nordisk’s internal safety assessment, Novo Nordisk is of the opinion that the benefit-risk profile of semaglutide remains unchanged.

Novo Nordisk, on its part, has conducted an analysis across randomized controlled clinical trials with GLP-1 receptor agonists, including a blinded ophthalmologist evaluation to confirm NAION diagnoses. These data do not suggest a causal relationship between GLP-1 RA use and NAION events.

Patient safety is a top priority for Novo Nordisk, and we take all reports about adverse events from use of our medicines very seriously. This also relates to eye conditions, which are well-known comorbidities for people living with diabetes. Any decision to start treatment with prescription-only medicines should be made in consultation with a healthcare professional who should do a benefit-risk evaluation for the patient in question, weighing up the benefits of treatment with the potential risks."