01-05-2025
Weight-loss drugs like Ozempic are hospitalizing 70 Americans per day with severe side effects
Weight-loss drugs like Ozempic are sending flocks of Americans to the emergency room every day with potentially life-threatening side effects, according to a CDC report.
Researchers found there were 25,000 visits between 2022 and 2023 around 70 per day for symptoms related to semaglutide, the main ingredient in the drugs that included nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain,
However, spoke to victims who began suffering from hearing loss, uncontrollable bowel movements, hair loss, vision loss, pancreatitis, and depression after starting the medications.
Other patients experienced hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), allergic reactions and medication errors - such as people taking more of the drug than prescribed.
This come amid growing concern about adverse side effects, and the researchers are urging doctors to do a better job at educating patients regarding use and side effects of semaglutide, as well as help manage their use of any other medications they are on before starting Ozempic or Wegovy.
The CDC report found majority of the ED visits - 80 percent - occurred in 2023 as the use of semaglutide medications soared. It is estimated about 13 per cent of Americans - 33million people - have ever tried at least one weight-loss drug.
The CDC researchers analyzed data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-Cooperative Adverse Drug Event Surveillance Project (NEISS-CADES), which keeps track of drug-related adverse events in the U.S.
The study did not reveal if any deaths related to the medications occurred.
In one lawsuit, Ozempic user Brad Roberts claims the drug caused debilitating joint and muscle pain, as well as severe stomachaches that confined him to his bed for 18 hours a day.
Other claims in the lawsuit include that he has trouble walking and suffers from memory loss, vision problems and issues communicating.
In one of the court documents obtained by Dr Yadira Lockard, a psychologist who has served as Brad Roberts's therapist since January 2015, describes his deterioration after he was allegedly 'dangerously' overmedicated with weight loss drugs.
She said she noticed a concerning change in his behavior about a year into his weight loss and eventually his condition deteriorated until he no longer had 'the mental capacity to make life decisions of any particular consequence to himself or on behalf of his family.'
Additionally, the FDA has received hundreds of reports of suicidal thoughts and depression from patients on weight loss medications since 2010, as well as 36 deaths 'by suicide or suspected suicide.'
As of 2023, 265 reports of suicidal thoughts and depression among people on weight-loss drugs had been received by the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS), Reuters reported, though instances of suicidal thoughts on the drugs are unverified.
