“I think the Ozempic was putting these suicidal thoughts in his mind,” said the family of Anthony, an American who regularly took medicine to regulate his weight. There is no certainty that this medicine can be blamed for the suicide he committed some time later, but his family asks that the general public be warned.
The European Medicines Agency said in July that it was reviewing 150 reports of self-injury and suicidal thoughts from people who took GLP-1 receptor agonists, the drug class that includes Ozempic and Wegovy. The U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency told Reuters that it, too, was reviewing safety data about the drugs following similar reports.
In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration’s adverse event reporting system, or FAERS, had received 59 reports of suicidal ideation, six reports of suicide attempts and four reports of suicide related to Ozempic as of June 30. Wegovy — which carries a warning about suicidal thoughts — had six reports of suicidal ideation and no reports of suicide or suicide attempts.
But those tallies are self-reported events and the FDA had not necessarily verified that they were caused by the medications. The numbers are also small relative to how many people take Ozempic: Data from Novo Nordisk, the maker of Ozempic and Wegovy, indicates that U.S. providers were writing about 60,000 new weekly Ozempic prescriptions as of April.
Three doctors who routinely prescribe Ozempic and Wegovy told NBC News they weren’t noticing a link to suicidal thoughts. The doctors give expert advice to Novo Nordisk in exchange for financial compensation, but they do not speak on behalf of the company. NBC News identified them through their work with university-affiliated medical centers. It is common for doctors who specialize in weight management drugs to advise companies that make such medications.
Clinical trials also did not find an association between Ozempic and suicidal thoughts.
But Anthony’s family believes Ozempic should come with a warning about self-injury or suicidal thoughts as a potential risk. The drug’s prescribing label has no such information listed. Wegovy’s label has a warning because it is approved for weight loss, and the FDA requires a warning about suicidal ideation for chronic weight management medications that work on the central nervous system.
Ozempic and Wegovy are both versions of the drug semaglutide at different dosages. The former is approved only for diabetes; any use of it for weight loss is considered off-label, according to the FDA.
Although Anthony was prescribed Ozempic for diabetes, he saw weight loss as a welcome side effect, his family said. I have lost roughly 50 pounds over three months while taking the drug.
Hall reported Anthony’s death to the FDA and to Novo Nordisk in June. The company reached out to his doctor for more information in July, according to correspondence reviewed by NBC News, but Hall does not know if Novo Nordisk has taken further action. Neither she nor Hasty are pursuing legal action.
Novo Nordisk said it cannot comment on individual cases but that it investigates all reports of adverse events. The company added that it remains confident in the benefit-risk profile of Ozempic and works closely with the FDA and other regulatory agencies to ensure that the product’s label appropriately reflects its safety and efficacy.
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