FDA orders vision loss warnings for Ozempic, Wegovy, other GLP-1 drugs

Key Points:

• The FDA has issued a warning that popular weight-loss drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, including Ozempic and Wegovy, carry a small risk of causing a rare eye condition that can lead to permanent vision loss.
• The condition, non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), involves reduced blood flow to the optic nerve and has been reported in patients taking these drugs, though its exact cause remains unclear.
• A meta-analysis of 126 clinical trials involving over 134,000 patients found about six cases of NAION per 100,000 patients on GLP-1 drugs annually, representing a 68% higher incidence than in control groups, but the FDA noted this does not prove a direct causal link.
• Risk factors for NAION such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and sleep apnea overlap with the profile of patients prescribed GLP-1 drugs, complicating the assessment of the drugs' role in vision loss.
• NAION is most common in adults over 50 and can cause sudden, painless vision loss in one eye, with no proven treatment to reverse damage; about 43% of affected patients experience some spontaneous improvement, though some vision defects often remain.