The Eye Condition AION Diagnosis Can Include NAION Due to Semaglutide Use
(Posted by Tom Lamb at Drug Injury Watch)
This article discusses a lesser-known possible vision side effect for Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus, diagnosed as anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION). As will be shown below, an eye condition AION diagnosis can include nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) due to semaglutide use by diabetes patients or people using semaglutide-containing drugs for weight loss.
We have written several times previously about patients who used Ozempic, Wegovy, or Rybelsus and then developed vision loss and blindness due to NAION. In those earlier articles, we pointed out:
- Semaglutide is the active ingredient in all three of these Novo Nordisk drugs; and,
- The current drug labels for Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus do not warn about NAION as a possible eye-related side effect. (Likewise, there is no warning about AION.)
As regards the relationship between an AION diagnosis and NAION, we get the following from this medical journal article, "Treatment of Nonarteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy", published by the Survey of Ophthalmology back in 2010:
Anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION) results from ischemic damage to the anterior portion of the optic nerve, a region primarily supplied by the posterior ciliary artery circulation. Anterior ischemic optic neuropathy is divided into two types: arteritic AION (AAION), secondary to vasculitis (especially giant cell arteritis), and nonarteritic AION (NAION), secondary to non-inflammatory small vessel disease. NAION constitutes 95% of all AION and is the most common cause of acute optic neuropathy in people over the age of 50, affecting somewhere between 2 to 10 individuals per 100,000 (approximately 1500 to 6000 new cases per year in the United States). [Emphasis added; footnotes omitted.]
Accordingly, a person using Rybelsus, Wegovy, or Ozempic diagnosed with AION might have NAION due to semaglutide use and, in turn, could have a potential drug injury lawsuit against Novo Nordisk.
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The fundamental basis for such a drug injury lawsuit is the fact that there is no warning about anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION) as a possible eye-related side effect in the current drug labels for Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus. More information about these lawsuits against the drug company is in our April 2025 article "Ozempic Vision Loss Lawsuits Have Been Filed by Patients Against Novo Nordisk".
Unfortunately, people diagnosed with anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION) often experience some degree of permanent vision impairment, just like those diagnosed with nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION).
If you have been diagnosed with AION, or NAION, we can assist you with a possible drug injury lawsuit that would be filed against Novo Nordisk, the responsible pharmaceutical company.
These drug injury lawsuits would not be filed against the prescribing doctor or eye doctors treating the eye-related drug side effect, given the "failure to warn" situation that serves as the basis for these legal compensation cases.
To get started, you can complete our online Case Evaluation Form, or you can call attorney Tom Lamb (910-256-2971) to discuss your possible case.
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