New 2026 Medical Article Published By JAMA Network Open Investigates Drug Safety Issue

(Posted by Tom Lamb at Drug Injury Watch)

An increasingly known but still-developing drug safety issue is that of Ozempic and other GLP-1RA use associated with NAION eye side effect. Before we direct you to a new 2026 article published in JAMA Network Open that investigates this issue, we will provide some relevant background information to serve as reference points.

The glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA) class of drugs — also referred to as GLP‑1 receptor agonists — include the following:

Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus, each with the active ingredient semaglutide;

Mounjaro and Zepbound, each with the active ingredient tirzepatide (technically, this is a dual glucose‑dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP)/GLP‑1 agonist rather than a pure GLP‑1 RA, because it activates both GIP and GLP‑1 receptors);

Victoza and Saxenda, each with the active ingredient liraglutide;

Byetta and Bydureon, each with the active ingredient exenatide; and

Trulicity, with the active ingredient dulaglutide.

For a brief description of the nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) eye side effect, we refer you to this quote from the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO):

Nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) is the most common cause of acute optic nerve injury in individuals over 50 years old… It typically presents as an acute, monocular, painless loss of vision.

For more details, see this August 1, 2022, article posted on the AAO website, “NAION: Diagnosis and Management“.

With those reference points set forth, we now point out a new 2026 article published in JAMA Network Open that investigates the drug safety issue of Ozempic and other GLP-1RAs associated with NAION eye side effects.

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Ozempic / Wegovy / Rybelsus

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“GLP-1 Receptor Agonists or SGLT2 Inhibitors and Nonarteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy” is a medical article reporting the results of a cohort study that analyzed the nationwide electronic health records of the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) “to compare the 3-year risk of NAION among veterans with type 2 diabetes who initiated GLP-1RAs or sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2024.”

From that Research Letter published by the online medical journal JAMA Network Open on April 30, 2026, we get these two excerpts:

— Over 3 years of follow-up, the cumulative incidence of NAION was 39.07 (95% CI, 35.38-43.06) per 10 000 persons in the GLP-1RA group and 29.33 (95% CI, 26.34-33.06) per 10 000 persons in the SGLT2i group. Compared with SGLT2i, GLP-1RA use was associated with an increased risk of NAION (CID, 9.98; 95% CI, 3.48-14.03 per 10 000 persons at 3 years; CIR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.11-1.51

— In this large cohort study, GLP-1RA use was associated with a modestly increased risk of NAION compared with SGLT2i use. While the absolute risk remains low, the specificity of this finding may warrant heightened vigilance.

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Mounjaro / Zepbound

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Ozempic and other GLP-1RA use associated with NAION eye side effect first surfaced as a drug safety issue when it was reported in a July 2024 medical journal article that semaglutide, which is the active ingredient for Wegovy and Rybelsus as well as Ozempic, is associated with NAION.

Two large medical studies from Denmark in December 2024 provided additional evidence by finding that people who used Ozempic had more than double the risk of developing this serious eye side effect, which can cause vision loss and blindness.

Drug injury lawsuits involving Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus for patients with vision loss due to nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) have been filed against Novo Nordisk for failing to warn about eye problems, such as the eye side effect NAION, causing permanent vision loss. For more information, see this page, “Eye-related Side Effects of Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus With Vision Loss” on our Drug Injury Law website.

And as regards NAION drug injury lawsuits involving Zepbound and Mounjaro, on our Drug Injury Law website: “Zepbound and Mounjaro Eye Side Effect NAION Information Page“.

We will continue to monitor medical journals and other sources for further developments regarding the drug safety issue of Ozempic and other GLP-1RA use being associated with the NAION eye side effect that can cause permanent vision loss.

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