Weight-loss drugs induce suicidal ideation? US FDA investigates

During clinical trials of Ozempic and Wegovy by Novo Nordisk, no link was observed to suicidal thoughts. Those trials, though, were not designed to pick up rare adverse events that might occur when drugs are widely used.

Medicines Ozempic, Mounjaro and Wegovy, are being evaluated by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after reports of hair loss and suicidal thoughts in people taking them have surfaced.

Both Ozempic for type 2 diabetes and the obesity treatment Wegovy have the same active ingredient, semaglutide.

Semaglutide belongs to a class of drugs known as GLP-1 agonists originally designed for type 2 diabetes. In addition to helping control blood sugar levels, they trigger a feeling of fullness.

These capsules mimic a naturally producing hormone—GLP-1—that helps in slowing down the passage of food through the stomach.

After receiving reports of alopecia and suicidal ideation, the FDA is “evaluating the need for regulatory action," as per a report in CNN Health.

“The FDA monitors the safety of drugs throughout their life cycle, including post-approval. In addition, the FDA maintains a system of postmarketing surveillance and risk assessment programs to identify and evaluate adverse events that did not appear during the drug development process,” the agency told the publication as it sought people to speak to their healthcare provider in case they see any issues or have queries.

“If newly identified safety signals are identified, the FDA will determine what, if any, actions are appropriate after a thorough review of available data,” the agency added.

During clinical trials of Ozempic and Wegovy by Novo Nordisk, no links were observed to suicidal thoughts. Those trials, though, were not designed to pick up rare adverse events that might occur when drugs are widely used.

A Reuters review last year found that the FDA had received 265 reports of suicidal thoughts or behavior in patients taking semaglutide or similar medicines since 2010. Thirty-six of these reports describe a death by suicide or suspected suicide.

A committee of the European Medicines Agency, a group that evaluates and monitors the safety of drugs, announced in July that it was investigating reports from Iceland that some patients taking Ozempic or Wegovy had said that they were thinking of killing themselves or were deliberately injuring themselves. The agency said it had found and was analyzing about 150 such cases.

However, a study published on Friday may reassure those who take such medicines.

People taking the wildly popular drugs Ozempic, to treat diabetes, and Wegovy, to combat obesity, are slightly less likely to have suicidal thoughts than those consuming other weight-loss drugs, researchers reported Friday.

(With Reuters inputs)