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People taking Novo Nordisk medicines (New Revised Standard Version) People taking the popular drug Ozempic were found to be more likely to report suicidal thoughts than people taking other medications. New Research The findings were published Tuesday in JAMA Network Open.
The drug, semaglutide, is sold in the U.S. by the Danish pharmaceutical giant as the diabetes treatment Ozempic and the weight-loss drug Wegobee. The study raises further concerns about a possible link between popular diabetes and weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic and suicidal thoughts.
Earlier this year, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency Both health authorities launched their own investigations into the issue. They determined there was no link between the popular weight-loss drug and suicidal thoughts.
The FDA added at the time that it could not definitively rule out “a possible small risk” and said it would continue to monitor for side effects.
In the new observational study, researchers analyzed adverse drug reactions tracked in a World Health Organization (WHO) database. They found 107 reports of suicidal thoughts in patients who took semaglutide. Compared with all other medications in the database, people who took semaglutide had a 45% higher risk of reporting suicidal thoughts. The risk was even higher for people who took semaglutide plus an antidepressant.
However, this association disappeared when the researchers excluded patients taking antidepressants.In addition, patients taking semaglutide had lower rates of suicidal behavior, including suicide attempts and self-harm, compared with those taking other medications in the database.
Novo Nordisk (New Revised Standard Version) He told STAT “The known risks associated with the use of these medicines are reflected in the current FDA- and EMA-approved product labeling,” the company said in a statement. The company also noted that the new study has limitations because it cannot control for outside variables such as patients’ diagnoses and medical histories.
The researchers also noted limitations in their analysis, such as missing information, and wrote that “causality cannot be inferred and therefore any responses cannot be attributed to the effects of the drugs.”
Still, the researchers said their findings warrant “urgent clarification” about the drug’s risks.
In January, Another study People taking semaglutide were found to have a lower risk of suicidal thoughts compared with people taking other medicines for the same condition.
