(NewsNation) — Drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy, which were initially manufactured for people living with diabetes, have surged in popularity since research showed the active ingredient in Ozempic, semaglutide, works for weight loss.
Since then, there’s been a fury of different accounts.
Jason Jacobson is a nurse practitioner who last year opened a wellness clinic in Florida where he offers patients semaglutide. He was inspired by his stepdaughter, Ashley Dunham, who lost more than 100 pounds on the drug.
In a September interview with NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo, Dunham said she wished more people knew about it.
“Studies have shown that GLP-1 medication is the leading treatment for women with PCOS (Polycystic ovary syndrome), and I wish that more women knew that,” Dunham said on “CUOMO.” “So, I’ve taken it, I take my once weekly injection mixed with proper diet and exercise, I go to a personal trainer a few times a week, and I’ve been able to lose 106 pounds as I stand before you today.”
Some businesses are even seeing their business change due to weight loss drugs.
According to Walmart’s U.S. CEO, the medication weight loss phenomenon is causing people who take them to buy less food.
In an interview with Bloomberg News, CEO John Furner said that customers picking up prescriptions for Ozempic or Wegovy also pick up fewer items and food with fewer calories.
Walmart gathered the information using anonymized company data that compares food shopping with customers who also filled prescriptions for weight loss drugs.
On the other hand, there are stories of those prescribed the medication having less-than-ideal outcomes.
One of them is 38-year-old Emily Wright, a teacher in Toronto.
She started taking Ozempic in 2018 for diabetes but also enjoyed the weight loss. A year in, however, she started vomiting daily, was hospitalized repeatedly and was eventually diagnosed with a paralyzed stomach.
“Nobody told me that Ozempic could cause gastroparesis,” Wright told Cuomo in a July interview.
Gastroparesis is a medical condition that prevents the stomach from emptying properly, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Wright says she started experiencing side effects shortly after starting Ozempic but figured they would go away as her doctors told her.
A year later, she was in a hospital, unable to get out of bed and unable to work. Now, she’s uncertain as to the prognosis of her digestive issues.
“There’s no research to know when I’m going to get better and what that looks like,” Wright said. “I think that there’s a serious connection between Ozempic and gastroparesis, and it’s one that needs to be looked at, and people need to make choices carefully. As soon as your side effects come in, they need to speak up to their doctor. It’s not normal.”
The cause of gastroparesis is unknown and is sometimes a complication of diabetes, according to the Mayo Clinic.
But what does the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) say?
Last week, the FDA updated Ozempic’s label amid concerns it may block intestines in some patients.
The FDA revealed it updated the label after a few issues emerged as the drug has increased in popularity. The label warns of a gastrointestinal disorder called ileus, which is a lack of movement in the intestines that can lead to pain, nausea and other symptoms, according to Medical News Today.
“The following adverse reactions have been reported during post-approval use of semaglutide, the active ingredient of OZEMPIC,” the label reads. “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.”
Novo Nordisk, who makes the drug, said, “Patient safety is a top priority” in a statement shared with NewsNation’s The Hill in September.
NewsNation writers Tyler Wornell and Damita Menezes contributed to this report.