A new study has linked semaglutide, the active drug ingredient in weight-loss and diabetic drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic, to suicidal ideation. The finding “warrants urgent clarification,” the authors wrote. Researchers analyzed the World Health Organization’s (WHO) database for adverse drug events.
They compared the reporting rates of suicidal ideation and other suicidal behaviors from reports about semaglutide and another weight-loss drug of the same class, liraglutide (brand name Victoza and Saxenda). The reporting rates of suicidal ideation and other self-injurious behavior were then compared against all other drugs in the WHO database. The findings were also compared to other antidiabetic drugs like dapagliflozin, metformin, and orlistat.
The authors noted a slight increase in adverse drug reports for both semaglutide and liraglutide up until August 2023. However, the rise was substantially more pronounced for semaglutide, climbing from 0 percent in 2017 to 0.8 percent in 2023, compared to liraglutide’s increase from 0.
09 percent in 2014 to 0.4 percent in 2023. Semaglutide was approved in 2017 while liraglutide was approved in 2011.
Between the two drugs, around half of the suicidality cases occurred when people took the drug off label, the researchers said. “The observed high proportion of cases due to possible off-label use and a recently published postmarketing signal of misuse or abuse call for urgent clarification of patient-related and drug-related risk f.