{"id":470739,"date":"2026-03-12T03:04:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T03:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/470739\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T03:04:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T03:04:14","slug":"wegovy-weight-loss-jab-may-carry-higher-risk-of-sudden-sight-loss-as-new-warning-issued","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/470739\/","title":{"rendered":"Wegovy weight loss jab \u2018may carry higher risk of sudden sight loss\u2019 as new warning issued"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Weight-loss jab<\/a> Wegovy<\/a> may pose the highest risk of sudden sight loss when compared to other jabs of a similar nature, such as Ozempic<\/a>, according to a new analysis.<\/p>\n

The study also revealed that men were three times more likely than women to experience a so-called “eye stroke”.<\/p>\n

Researchers, whose findings were published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology, stated that the results “highlight a potential dose-dependent safety concern” for semaglutide.<\/p>\n

Wegovy, Ozempic, and Rybelsus \u2013 all produced by Novo Nordisk <\/a>\u2013 share the same active ingredient but differ in their dosage and intended use. <\/p>\n

Wegovy is approved on the NHS for weight management, utilising higher doses. <\/p>\n

In contrast, Ozempic and Rybelsus, the latter being an oral medication, employ lower doses to treat type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n

For the study, experts examined the link between semaglutide and ischaemic optic neuropathy (Ion) \u2013 often called an eye stroke \u2013 which causes a sudden loss of vision due to reduced blood flow to the optic nerve.<\/p>\n

Researchers analysed side-effect alerts submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Adverse Event Reporting System between December 2017 and December 2024.<\/p>\n

Of more than 30 million alerts, some 31,774 involved semaglutide.<\/p>\n

\"ResearchersResearchers found Wegovy was most strongly linked with Ion compared to Ozempic (PA)<\/p>\n

Some 3,070 were attributed to Wegovy, which launched in 2021, while 20,608 were linked to Ozempic, which was approved by the FDA in 2017.<\/p>\n

Despite this, researchers found Wegovy was most strongly linked with Ion compared to Ozempic.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall, Ion risk appears dose and formulation dependent, and highest with Wegovy,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOzempic\u2019s earlier approval resulted in more reports than Wegovy, yet Wegovy showed the stronger signal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Further analysis suggested the odds of Ion were almost five times higher with Wegovy than Ozempic, and more than three times higher in men than in women.<\/p>\n

Researchers said: \u201cThese findings highlight a potential dose-dependent safety concern that warrants urgent prospective evaluation to guide prescribing and regulatory policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Ion was not reported in association with Rybelsus, the study found.<\/p>\n

Experts said this difference may be down to \u201cthe limited absorption and slower uptake of Rybelsus\u201d.<\/p>\n

A Novo Nordisk spokesperson said: \u201cPatient safety is our top priority, and we take any reports about adverse events from the use of our medicines very seriously.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe work closely with authorities and regulatory bodies from around the world to continuously monitor the safety profile of our products.\u201d<\/p>\n

They added that EU patient leaflets for Wegovy, Ozempic and Rybelsus have been updated to include non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION).<\/p>\n

However, the company has concluded that data \u201cdid not suggest a reasonable possibility of a causal relationship between semaglutide and NAION and Novo Nordisk believes that the benefit-risk profile of semaglutide remains favourable\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":470740,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[102,6591,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-470739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-health","tag-medication","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470739\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}