Researchers link popular weight loss drugs to serious digestive problems for ‘hundreds of thousands’ worldwide

Webxero🇺🇸 — A new study suggests people taking popular injected medications for weight loss, including Wegovy, Ozempic, Saxenda and Victoza, may be at higher risk for serious digestive problems such as stomach paralysis, pancreatitis, and bowel obstructions, compared with those taking other types of weight loss medications. The study found risks of these events happening to individual patients appears to be rare — about 1% of people taking Ozempic were diagnosed with stomach paralysis, for example. But demand for the drugs has exploded, with tens of millions now taking them worldwide. Researchers say even rare risks like these may amount to hundreds of thousands of new cases. “When you have millions of people using these drugs, you know, a 1% risk still translates to many people who may experience these events,” said lead study author Dr. Mahyar Etminan, an epidemiologist at the University of British Columbia. The study authors also note that these problems are not mild. Bowel obstructions, for example, can be medical emergencies. Previous CNN reporting highlighted cases of stomach paralysis in people who had taken these drugs and the lack of warning about that specific side effect to patients. The prescribing information for Wegovy and Saxenda does caution about a host of serious side effects including inflammation of the pancreas, gallbladder problems, blocked intestines, kidney problems, serious allergic reactions, increased heart rate, suicidal thoughts, and changes in vision or people who also have diabetes. A warning about ileus, or blocked intestines, was also just added to Ozempic’s warning label.

The labels also note the most common side effects are nasuea, vomiting and constipation. They also strongly warn people with a history of certain types of hereditary thyroid cancers against taking the medications. For the study, which published as a research letter in JAMA, researchers at the University of British Columbia sifted through a random sample of more than 16 million insurance claims from a prescription drug database that covers about 93% of all outpatient prescriptions in the US. The claims were filed between 2006 and 2020. They looked for patients who were prescribed two injected drugs — semaglutide and liraglutide. Both drugs belong to a class called GLP-1 agonists and slow the passage of food through the stomach. They can help people with diabetes control their blood sugar and lead to substantial weight loss for people with or without diabetes. In 2021, the US Food and Drug Administration approved semaglutide for people who are obese without diabetes who only need to lose weight. It’s sold under the brand name Ozempic when prescribed for diabetes and Wegovy when prescribed for weight loss. Liraglutide was FDA approved as a weight loss medicine since 2014. When it’s prescribed for diabetes, it’s called Victoza; when prescribed for weight management, it’s called Saxenda. But even before the drugs officially hit the market for weight loss, doctors had noticed the benefits and began prescribing off-label for patients who needed to shed pounds.

To ferret out who those patients might have been, researchers looked for people who were diagnosed with obesity at least 90 days before they started the medication and excluded any who were also diagnosed with diabetes or who were taking any other drug to control their blood sugar. Then they compared the frequency of serious digestive problems in those patients to the same set of problems in people taking a different type of medication for weight loss, bupropion-naltrexone, which is sold as pill called Contrave. Audio Live TV Researchers link popular weight loss drugs to serious digestive problems for ‘hundreds of thousands’ worldwide By Brenda Goodman, CNN Updated 1:32 PM EDT, Thu October 5, 2023 Mounjaro Inside Mounjaro factory trying to meet 300% demand increase of drug used for weight loss 02:50 - Source: CNN CNN —

A new study suggests people taking popular injected medications for weight loss, including Wegovy, Ozempic, Saxenda and Victoza, may be at higher risk for serious digestive problems such as stomach paralysis, pancreatitis, and bowel obstructions, compared with those taking other types of weight loss medications. The study found risks of these events happening to individual patients appears to be rare — about 1% of people taking Ozempic were diagnosed with stomach paralysis, for example. But demand for the drugs has exploded, with tens of millions now taking them worldwide. Researchers say even rare risks like these may amount to hundreds of thousands of new cases. “When you have millions of people using these drugs, you know, a 1% risk still translates to many people who may experience these events,” said lead study author Dr. Mahyar Etminan, an epidemiologist at the University of British Columbia. The study authors also note that these problems are not mild. Bowel obstructions, for example, can be medical emergencies. Previous CNN reporting highlighted cases of stomach paralysis in people who had taken these drugs and the lack of warning about that specific side effect to patients. The prescribing information for Wegovy and Saxenda does caution about a host of serious side effects including inflammation of the pancreas, gallbladder problems, blocked intestines, kidney problems, serious allergic reactions, increased heart rate, suicidal thoughts, and changes in vision or people who also have diabetes. A warning about ileus, or blocked intestines, was also just added to Ozempic’s warning label.

The labels also note the most common side effects are nasuea, vomiting and constipation. They also strongly warn people with a history of certain types of hereditary thyroid cancers against taking the medications. The injectable drug Ozempic is shown Saturday, July 1, 2023, in Houston. FDA updates Ozempic label to acknowledge some users’ reports of blocked intestines For the study, which published as a research letter in JAMA, researchers at the University of British Columbia sifted through a random sample of more than 16 million insurance claims from a prescription drug database that covers about 93% of all outpatient prescriptions in the US. The claims were filed between 2006 and 2020. They looked for patients who were prescribed two injected drugs — semaglutide and liraglutide. Both drugs belong to a class called GLP-1 agonists and slow the passage of food through the stomach. They can help people with diabetes control their blood sugar and lead to substantial weight loss for people with or without diabetes. In 2021, the US Food and Drug Administration approved semaglutide for people who are obese without diabetes who only need to lose weight. It’s sold under the brand name Ozempic when prescribed for diabetes and Wegovy when prescribed for weight loss. Liraglutide was FDA approved as a weight loss medicine since 2014. When it’s prescribed for diabetes, it’s called Victoza; when prescribed for weight management, it’s called Saxenda. But even before the drugs officially hit the market for weight loss, doctors had noticed the benefits and began prescribing off-label for patients who needed to shed pounds. To ferret out who those patients might have been, researchers looked for people who were diagnosed with obesity at least 90 days before they started the medication and excluded any who were also diagnosed with diabetes or who were taking any other drug to control their blood sugar. Then they compared the frequency of serious digestive problems in those patients to the same set of problems in people taking a different type of medication for weight loss, bupropion-naltrexone, which is sold as pill called Contrave. An Ozempic (semaglutide) injection pen is seen on a kitchen table in Riga, Latvia on 06 August, 2023. (Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images) CNN Exclusive: Prescriptions for popular diabetes and weight-loss drugs soared, but access is limited for some patients Over the years reviewed, the researchers found that people taking Ozempic and Saxenda were much more likely to develop serious stomach and intestinal problems compared with those who were taking Contrave.

In absolute terms, there was a roughly 1% rate of new cases of stomach paralysis in the group taking Ozempic, about 0.7% incidence of stomach paralysis in the group taking Saxenda, and a roughly 0.3% incidence of stomach paralysis in the group taking Contrave. In relative terms, that means people taking the injected drugs were more than three times more likely to develop stomach paralysis compared with those taking Contrave. There were no bowel obstructions noted in the group taking Ozempic, but the study found a 0.8% incidence in people who were taking Saxenda, and a 0.17% incidence in people taking Contrave. That means bowel obstructions were more than four times more likely in people taking the injected medications compared with those on Contrave. For pancreatitis, there was a 0.5% incidence of pancreatitis in people taking Ozempic, a 0.8% risk in people taking Saxenda, and a 0.01% incidence in people taking Contrave, representing a more than ninefold increase. Researchers also looked at the risk that patients might be diagnosed with biliary disease, which is a cluster of problems affecting the gallbladder and bile ducts, but there were no significant differences between the groups. In the group of roughly 600 patients who were taking Ozempic, there were four cases of gastroparesis or stomach paralysis, two cases of pancreatitis, no bowel obstructions, and five who developed biliary disease. In the group of about 4,400 people taking Saxenda, there were 66 cases of stomach paralysis, 73 bowel obstructions, 71 cases of pancreatitis, and 162 cases of biliary disease. In the group of about 650 people taking Contrave, by contrast, there were three cases of stomach paralysis, two bowel obstructions, one case of pancreatitis, and 16 cases of biliary disease.