The Ozempic and Wegovy mistake sending thousands to poison control
News
Semaglutide’s weight loss boom triggered a surprising spike in preventable poison control calls, revealing a major need for better patient education.
– University of Texas at San Antonio
– Poison control calls involving semaglutide (Ozempic and Wegovy) soared after the drug was approved for weight management, with researchers linking the increase to accidental dosing mistakes rather than intentional misuse. Simple education about proper weekly dosing and gradual dose increases could help prevent many of these avoidable incidents.
Details
The explosive growth in semaglutide (Ozempic and Wegovy) We use after its FDA approval for chronic weight management in 2021 was accompanied by another trend that drew researchers’ attention: a dramatic increase in calls to poison control centers across the United States.
Jordan Miller, then an undergraduate student at UT San Antonio, wanted to find out whether the surge in poison control cases was directly connected to the FDA’s expanded approval of semaglutide or if the timing was merely coincidental.
Originally introduced as a treatment for type 2 diabetes, Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists (GLP-1RAs) quickly gained widespread popularity after the FDA approved semaglutide for weight management. As demand for the drug accelerated, poison control centers also began reporting a steep increase in calls, with semaglutide standing out far above other medications.
Analysis
“One of them was this quite odd category of semaglutide,” said David Han, Miller’s research mentor and Romo Endowed Professor in the UT San Antonio Department of Statistics & Data Science. “We suspected that the call volume was skyrocketing because of the misuse and mishandling of this drug and that it may be attributed to the FDA approval of this drug for weight management.”
Working with Han through the Provost’s Undergraduate Research Fellowship, Miller collaborated with Long School of Medicine researchers Robert S. Miller, Pharm.D, senior specialist in poison information, and Shawn M. Varney, MD, professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and medical director of the South Texas Poison Center, to analyze national poison control data.
Miller later presented the research at UT San Antonio’s Los Datos conference, where the project earned first place.
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