Should we be worried about deaths related to weight loss, including Ozempic? – The News 4 News

A number of deaths have been reported in people who have losses weight, including Ozepic.

He made titles in a series of newspapers, including The Sun.

But the jabs directly caused the victims – and should we be worried?

Factcheck glanced.

What do the data say?

Mounjaro, Ozempic, Rybelsus, Wegovy and Victosis are all drugs that can be used to help lose weight.

Medical treatments, including jabs used for weight loss, are partly monitored using medicines and medical product regulatory (MHRA) Scheme of yellow cardswhere people report any undesirable side effects – also known as the adverse drug reaction – had after using a drug.

Sometimes side effects It can be delayed, it will happen after long -term use, after interaction with food or other medicines, stopping a medicine or as a result of an error of medicines, abuse or abuse.

By the end of January this year, there were 18 adverse reaction reports in the UK with a fatal result associated with Moujaro, 10 of which were reported with an indication of weight management.

There were 29 reports with a death associated with Semaglutide (the brand name includes Ozempic, Rybelsus and Wegovy), four of which were reported with an indication of weight management.

And there were 35 reports with a fatal result associated with the unique constituent (brand names include Victosis), of which eight were reported with an indication of weight management.

Novo Nordisk confirmed in October last year that her pre-filled 6mg/ml injuries were interrupted.

In a statement made to the pharmaceutical journalNovo Nordisk said that the product was interrupted “as part of our wider efforts to strengthen our portfolio.”

Does this mean that deaths are directly linked?

The deaths were reported through the yellow card scheme of the Regulation Agency for Medicinal Medicines and Medical Products (MHRA), which collects and monitors information on suspected safety issues involving medical products, such as a side effect. with a medicine.

But the yellow book scheme is based on the voluntary reporting of problems to a public assistance product, such as patients, parents and caregivers, as well as from health professionals.

And a reported reaction does not mean that it was caused by the drug, but only that the reporter had the suspicion he can have.

The symptoms that appear after the use of a drug and then reported through the yellow card scheme does not mean that the drug has been shown to have caused the problem – and the basic diseases can be responsible, or the events can be coincidental.

It is also worth noting that, as the use of this new drug increases, as well as the number of yellow card reports to them, but yellow books reporting rates can be influenced by a variety of factors, including The severity of adverse reactions to drugs, the ease of recognition and the extent of use, as well as the stimulation of promotion and advertising about a product.

Should we be worried?

As established above, these deaths were not causally and conclusive of weight loss jabies.

And Dr. Alison Cave, MHRA’s main safety officer, told Factcheck:

“The patient’s safety is our priority and no drug would have approved unless our standards of safety, quality and efficacy.”

She explained that new drugs, such as GLP-1 RAS (a class of drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity) “are more intensely monitored to ensure that any new safety problems are promptly identified.”

“We encourage patients and health professionals to continue reporting the side effects suspected of Rast GLP-1 through our yellow card scheme,” added Dr. Cave.

“When a safety problem is confirmed, we always act promptly to inform patients and health professionals and to take appropriate measures to alleviate any identified risk.”

Dr. Martin Michaelis, professor of molecular medicine at the University of Kent, told factcheck that “it is fair to conclude that all drugs have potential and side effects”, including “medicines used frequently and frequently”, which is why “each consumption of Drugs should be based on an informed decision, taking into account both the desired benefits and potential damage. ”

Like all medicines, weight loss drugs “are associated with side effects that can be severe or even life -threatening to a small minority of patients.”

Dr. Michalis mentioned that the side effects of which it is known that the treatment with weight loss drugs mentioned above are resulted, include nausea, diarrhea and vomiting.

People who consider the use of medicines for weight loss “should do this only with the advice of their family doctor or another qualified professional, reliable in the field of health, which can explain the potential advantages and associated risks”, a he added.

A lilly spokesman, which Moujaro producers said -a factcheck: “The patient’s safety is Lilly’s main priority and we monitor, evaluate and report safety information to all our medicines to the UK and encourage professionals. In the field of health and others to do so through this through the process of reporting adverse events MHRA MHRA.

“Tirzatide (Moujaro brand name) is authorized to use both type 2 diabetes and weight management and is used to help millions of patients around the world. Our confidence in Tirzatide as an important treatment option is based on our extended clinical study program.

“If someone is experiencing side effects when taking any Lilly medicine, he should talk to his doctor or other health professional.”

A Novo Nordisk spokesman told factcheck: “The patient’s safety is of the highest importance to Novo Nordisk. We continuously collect safety data on our GLP-1 RA medicines and work closely with the authorities to ensure the patient’s safety. As part of this work, we continue to monitor the reports of adverse reactions to drugs through routine pharmacovigilance.

“We recommend that any patient who is experiencing side effects while taking GLP receptor agonists, including Wegovy®, Ozempic® or Rybelsus® to report them to their medical assistance provider and through the yellow card scheme.”

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