Alleged side effects of weight loss drugs causing patients to sue.

Full disclosure. I am using a GLP-1 drug. I have lost weight, My blood sugar is under control and My blood pressure is down. But I have experienced a few side effects. Nothing I can't manage (more about that in a moment.) 

GLP-1 drugs are one of the biggest money makers in pharmaceuticals today. (and they aren't cheap) Everybody wants to lose weight. In some cases, we're telling the doctor we want to treat diabetes, but really, yes, we want to lose weight. Some of us are so desperate to do so that we don't pay attention to the list of possible side effects. 

Some patients using GLP-1 drugs are experiencing some side effects, really severe side effects. 

There is the story of Jacqueline Barber, who started taking Ozempic in 2021 and after a few months, the vomiting started. She stayed on the drug even though she was losing weight at a rapid rate and was wasting away. It was so severe after over a year she discontinued using the drug, but the vomiting continued. She was eventually diagnosed with gastroparesis.

According to Time.com. 
‘as the drugs get more popular, the list of potential side effects is growing longer. Researchers have recently found links between GLP-1 drugs and gastroparesis, intestinal blockage, inflammation of the pancreas, blood clots, and an eye disease that can lead to blindness.’   

This is a much longer list than the list of side effects I read when I first started taking GL-1 drugs. For the vast majority of patients, and there's a lot of them taking these drugs in the USA, these side effects are minimal and when you decide to go off the drug they go away. But for a smaller percentage of patients that are taking GLP-1 drugs some of these side effects can be severe, even debilitating. And those patients, over 1000 so far, have decided to file lawsuits against Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk saying they were not “adequately informed” of the risks of using these drugs. 

When I made the decision to go on GLP-one drugs my physician and I went over the side effects on several different variations of this drug, and that's why we chose the one we did. My side effects are minor, I can live with it. But if they were more severe I'm not sure what I would do. 

The FDA has “assessed and approved” these drugs for use but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are perfect for all patients. 

If you're going to take a new drug, talk to your doctor, learn what the side effects are, and ask yourself, is this worth it? 

Patients Are Suing Over Alleged Side Effects of Weight-Loss Drugs | TIME
KFF Health Tracking Poll May 2024: The Public’s Use and Views of GLP-1 Drugs | KFF
GLP-1 receptor agonists: an updated review of head-to-head clinical studies - PMC