New Research Links Weight Loss Drugs to Rare but Severe Stomach Problems

A new research suggests that people taking popular injected drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, Saxenda and Victoza, may be at higher risk of rare, but severe stomach problems.

The study, which was published in the research journal JAMA, was released on Thursday. According to the study, those who use these drugs risk serious digestive problems such as stomach paralysis, pancreatitis, and bowel obstructions, as compared to other weight loss drugs.

The research says about 1% of people taking Ozempic were diagnosed with stomach paralysis. For the study, researchers at the University of British Columbia, examined health insurance claims data for roughly 16 million U.S. patients between 2006 and 2020. Those people were prescribed two injected drugs – Semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy; or Liraglutide, the active ingredient in Saxenda.

Both drugs belong to a class called GLP-1 agonists and slow the passage of food through the stomach. The reports of the study noted that people who took Ozempic or Wegovy were more than 9 times as likely to develop pancreatitis.

The study also states that the GLP-1s were associated with a 4 times higher risk of bowel obstruction and a more than 3 times higher risk of stomach paralysis. The findings suggests that the risks of those conditions are higher in patients specifically using GLP-1s rather than other weight loss drugs.

The researchers found that around 7 out of every 1,000 patients experienced stomach paralysis while taking liraglutide, and nearly 10 out of every 1,000 patients experienced the same condition while taking semaglutide.

“Given the wide use of these drugs, these adverse events, although rare, must be considered by patients thinking about using them for weight loss”, said the first author Mohit Sodhi in a statement.

“The risk calculus will differ depending on whether a patient is using these drugs for diabetes, obesity or just general weight loss. People who are otherwise healthy may be less willing to accept these potentially serious adverse events”, said Mohit Sodhi.

The study also found a higher incidence of biliary disease, a group of conditions affecting the gall bladder, but the difference was not found to be statistically significant, said the statement.

The researchers hope that the regulatory agencies and drug manufacturers will consider updating the warning labels for their products, which currently don’t include the risk of gastroparesis.

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