Frightening warning from FDA for 'weight loss drug': 'May cause blindness'

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has mandated new warnings on drug safety labels, warning that popular drugs used to treat diabetes and lose weight, including Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro, may increase the risk of a rare eye condition that can lead to permanent vision loss.

In the statement made by the FDA, it was stated that drugs in the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) group may be associated with the eye condition called "non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy" (NAION).

SUDDEN AND PAINLESS VISION LOSS

In the statement, it was stated that NAION, which occurs as a result of reduced blood flow to the optic nerve, causes sudden and painless vision loss, usually in one eye, and that there is no known method to restore lost vision with current treatments.

In the statement, it was pointed out that the risk of NAION was already high in patients with diabetes and obesity, and it was reminded that these drugs were used in the treatment of these diseases.

The FDA required information about the potential risk to be included in the safety labels of all drugs that show GLP-1 effects, including Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Wegovy, Eli Lilly's Mounjaro and Zepbound, and Sanofi's Soliqua.

On the other hand, Novo Nordisk, in a statement to ABC News, argued that current research does not show that GLP-1 group drugs cause NAION.

CLINICAL STUDIES WERE REVIEWED

The FDA began to examine the possible relationship between GLP-1 group drugs and NAION, following a study published in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology in 2024, which revealed that the risk of the disease in question increased in patients using semaglutide, the active ingredient of Ozempic and Wegovy.