“Our preliminary evaluation has not found evidence that use of these medicines causes suicidal thoughts or actions,” an FDA review released Thursday stated.
Still, the agency noted officials can't rule out that “a small risk may exist,” and it will continue to look into similar reports involving this class of weight-loss drugs, known as GLP-1 medications.
In that study, researchers tracked over 240,000 obese people and more than 1.5 million people with type 2 diabetes. They looked at the risk of suicidal ideation within six months of starting the medicines, as well as at later times. Even though semaglutide was associated with a lower risk of suicidal ideation in the NIH study, the investigators wrote in a research briefing that the data “do not yet justify off-label treatment” for suicidal thoughts. Both Wegovy and another recently approved weight-loss drug known as Zepbound have warnings in their U.S. prescribing information about the risk of suicidal behavior and ideation. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, news release, Jan. 11, 2024
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
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