The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has updated the label for Ozempic to include intestinal blockage, or ileus, as a side effect after reports from some users.
“Because these reactions are reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain size, it is not always possible to reliably estimate their frequency or establish a causal relationship to drug exposure,” the label now reads.
Although Ozempic was approved in 2017 as a diabetes drug, it became wildly popular this year as a weight-loss treatment.
Ozempic, generically known as semaglutide, is one of a class of diabetes drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists.
“Gastrointestinal (GI) events are well-known side effects of the GLP-1 class,” the drug’s manufacturer, Novo Nordisk, said in a statement. “For semaglutide, the majority of GI side effects are mild to moderate in severity and of short duration. GLP-1′s are known to cause a delay in gastric emptying, as noted in the label of each of our GLP-1 RA medications. Symptoms of delayed gastric emptying, nausea and vomiting are listed as side effects.”
Ozempic’s sister drug, Wegovy, already listed ileus on its label as a possible side effect. Wegovy is also produced by Novo Nordisk.
The two drugs mimick a hormone the body produces naturally. That hormone helps you to feel full longer.
CNN reported a Louisiana woman is suing Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly for “severe gastrointestinal events” she said she developed from Ozempic and Mounjaro, a simlar weight loss drug.
Sharon Osbourne recently warned of some of Ozempic’s side effects.
“At first, I mean, you feel nauseous,” she told Piers Morgan. “You don’t throw up physically but you’ve got that feeling.” Osbourne said she also had no appetite and was often thirsty.
Osbourne added she didn’t intend to lose the 42 pounds she did, saying you “can’t stay on it forever,” and, “I’ll probably put it all on again soon.”
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