The European Medicines Agency said Tuesday it’s reviewing data on the risk of suicidal thoughts and self-harm stemming from the use of the new medicines called GLP-1 receptor agonists, that are used to treat Type 2 diabetes and obesity. The review comes after Iceland’s medical regulator reported self-injury and suicidal thoughts in people using Ozempic, Saxenda and Wegovy. The medications are made by Denmark’s Novo Nordisk
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So far, about 150 cases have been reported, according to the EMA. The medicines are widely used by more than 20 million patients in the year to date. “It is not yet clear whether the reported cases are linked to the medicines themselves or to the patients’ underlying conditions or other factors,” said the EMA. The drugs, along with Eli Lilly & Co.’s
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Mounjaro, have become so popular in the U.S. that supplies have at times run short and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been forced to warn patients against using knockoff versions. Social media buzz about the drugs has promoted the mistaken perception that the medications are appropriate for a broad swath of people who may want to shed a few pounds–with disastrous consequences for some patients, doctors say. For more, read: The dark side of the weight-loss-drug craze: eating disorders, medication shortages, dangerous knockoffs
