Ozempic being investigated for hyperlink to suicidal ideas

European drug security regulators are investigating whether or not Ozempic and different fashionable diabetes and weight reduction medicines are linked to will increase in suicidal ideas in sufferers.

The European Medicines Company's drug security panel is inspecting circumstances of suicidal and self-harm ideas in two sufferers on Ozempic and one affected person on an analogous product, Saxenda. Each Saxenda and Ozempic are produced by Novo Nordisk, a Danish pharmaceutical firm.

(AP Picture/David J. Phillip)

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Ozempic, which is accredited by the Meals and Drug Administration for treating insulin-dependent Kind II diabetes, is used off-label as a weight reduction treatment. Each Ozempic and Wegovy, the identify and dosage of the on-label weight reduction product, comprise the chemical semaglutide, which mimics the GLP-1 hormone that promotes insulin improvement.

The panel, which met final week, is contemplating whether or not to broaden the inquiry into all GLP-1 medicine, together with Ozempic, Wegovy, and Saxenda, amongst others.

Sufferers who're prescribed Ozempic or Wegovy for both diabetes or weight reduction usually don't remain according to their treatment, partially as a result of GLP-1 medicine perform as urge for food suppressants. Though this makes them profitable for his or her meant well being results, the affected person additionally loses the pleasure sensation of consuming.

Jens Juul Hols, a scientist instrumental within the improvement of GLP-1 medicine, stated in an interview with Wired in June that "as soon as you have been on this for a yr or two, life is so miserably boring that you would be able to't stand it any longer and it's important to return to your previous life."

Novo Nordisk informed CNBC that affected person security is a "prime precedence" for the corporate they usually "take all experiences about hostile results from use of [their] merchandise very significantly." GLP-1 medicine accounted for 57% of Novo Nordisk's gross sales in 2022.

Ideas of self-harm aren't listed as a facet impact of Ozempic, however they're for Wegovy because of the outcomes of a medical trial for different weight reduction medicine. As coverage, the FDA doesn't touch upon investigations of international drug regulatory our bodies.