Several people who took a diverted antidiabetic to lose weight have reported suicidal thoughts and scarification, alert the European Medicines Agency.
Three Icelandic patients reported having suicidal thoughts and cravingsself harm after taking the drugs Ozempic® Or Wegovy® (containing semaglutide) or Saxenda® (containing liraglutide), injectable antidiabetics marketed as “slimming tip” on social networks including Tiktok, reports the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on July 11, 2023. Across the Atlantic, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) indicates for its part that it has received at least 60 reports mentioning suicidal ideation by patients on semaglutide since 2018 and in minus 70 patients on liraglutide since 2010. At the moment, “these reports have not been verified and there is no evidence of causality at this stage between the drug used and the adverse reactions reported“ says the FDA. However, in this context, the European Medicines Agency has decided to launch a pharmacovigilance surveypotentially extended to all drugs of the same class known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, indicated in poorly controlled type 2 diabetes. This investigation is expected to end in November 2023. Another investigation has been launched by theEMA to assess the relationship between GLP-1 analogues And the risk of thyroid cancer.
Suicidal thoughts are not listed as side effects in the leaflet
Thoughts of suicide and the risk of self-harm (scarification) are not listed as side effects in the European product leaflet. However, in the United States, authorities recommend that physicians regularly monitor their patients on Wegovy® to ensure that they are not exhibiting suicidal thoughts or behaviors. In Europe, antidiabetics like Ozempic®, Wegovy® or Saxenda® (marketed by the Danish laboratory Novo Nordisk) are only available only on prescription and are in most cases prescribed by a general practitioner, a nutritionist, an endocrinologist, a diabetologist, a gastroenterologist, a doctor from a specialist obesity center or a university hospital center (CHU).
Only the Wegovy and the Saxenda have a prescription authorization in the indications of obesity or overweight provided that the patient also has a comorbidity factor. “Ozempic should only be prescribed in poorly controlled type 2 diabetes, in accordance with its marketing authorization (AMM). (…) This medicine can cause potentially serious side effects, such as gastrointestinal disorders, pancreatitis or hypoglycaemia” recalled theMedicines Agency March 1, 2023. Patients on semaglutide or liraglutide experiencing side effects should report this to their doctor or pharmacist.