UK health chiefs rule out link between Ozempic and suspected deadly side effect in major analysis
Blockbuster weight loss jabs do not raise the risk of users contemplating self-harm, health chiefs have ruled.
The UK’s medicines watchdog launched an urgent safety review last July of Wegovy, Ozempic, Saxenda and other similar drugs to probe the possible link.
They were spooked by reports of more than a dozen patients experiencing thoughts about self-harm and suicide after taking the injections.
Suicidal thoughts are listed as a potential consequence in leaflets tucked inside the packaging already.
But the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which polices the safety of medicines in the UK, today said the data ‘does not support a causal association’.
Rsearchers in three countries suggested that taking antidepressants and drugs like Ozempic could lead to suicidal thoughts or actions based on drug interactions
It added: ‘Therefore no updates to the product information is warranted at this time.
‘The MHRA will continue to closely monitor the risk of severe psychiatric reactions associated with these receptor agonists and will assess new data as it becomes available.’
Semaglutide and liraglutide — the powerful ingredients behind Wegovy, Ozempic and Saxenda — have ushered in a new era in the war on obesity.
The treatments, loved by Hollywood stars, spur weight loss by mimicking the actions of a hormone released in the gut after eating, called GLP-1.
As well as telling the pancreas to make more insulin, the GLP-1 hormone feeds back to the brain and makes users feel full.
As a result, semaglutide and liraglutide can stop users from over-eating.
But it is not without side effects, with users commonly complaining of nausea, constipation and diarrhoea after taking the medication.
Wegovy, Ozempic and Saxenda are all manufactured by the pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk.
Last July, the MHRA said the review, which also included the risk of depression, was initiated after it received five reports of semaglutide patients who had suicidal or self-harming thoughts after taking the drug.
It had also received 12 reports since 2010 of these side effects in patients taking liraglutide.
Weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy mimic the production of the hormone GLP-1, which helps keep the body full
Semaglutide has been available on the NHS in the UK since 2019, and in the US since 2017, for type 2 diabetics to manage blood sugar levels.
Another semaglutide drug was also approved in Britain for weight loss in 2022, and in the US in 2021, under the brand Wegovy.
Like any medication, it can cause side effects that vary in both frequency and severity.
Reported problems include nausea, constipation, diarrhoea, fatigue, stomach pain, headaches and dizziness.
Bizarre symptoms, such as hair loss, have also been reported among some patients.
Latest NHS data shows 26 per cent of adults in England are obese and a further 38 per cent are overweight but not obese. In the US an estimated 41.9 per cent of adult population are obese.
Despite the hormone mimicking jabs being designed to help overweight patients become healthier, there have also been growing concerns about the number of normal weight and underweight patients taking them for cosmetic reasons.
Some have even needed emergency room care after taking jabs in a bid to become ‘beach body ready’.
