A large study shows that taking weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and antidepressants at the same time may increase the risk of suicide.
Researchers in New York, Switzerland and Italy searched a World Health Organization database for reports of suicidal thoughts among people taking the drugs in more than 140 countries.
The team then narrowed the search to reports of suicidal thoughts or attempts from patients who were taking both an antidepressant and semaglutide or liraglutide — the active ingredients in Ozempic and Victoza, respectively.
They found 107 cases of suicidal or self-harming thoughts or actions in those taking semaglutide and 162 in those taking liraglutide, suggesting a harmful interaction between weight-loss drugs and antidepressants.
Researchers in three countries have suggested that taking antidepressants and medications such as Ozempic may lead to suicidal thoughts or actions based on drug interactions
Sharon Osbourne revealed she lost so much weight taking Ozempic that she couldn’t afford to lose any more. She also shocked fans with her gaunt appearance at a Taylor Swift concert this week
However, experts criticised the study for its “weak evidence” and “major limitations” based on “spontaneous reports” of interactions between GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and antidepressants.
They also cautioned that the number of reports linked to both drugs was too small to establish a link.
The findings come after Sharon Osbourne alarmed fans this week with her gaunt appearance at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour show in London. Osbourne also admitted she’s “lost too much weight” using Ozempic.
The researchers conducted the study using VigiBase, a database of adverse drug and vaccine reports from the WHO’s Programme for International Drug Monitoring. It includes 36 million reports from more than 140 countries.
The team collected reports of suicide and self-harm from patients who also took semaglutide or liraglutide between November 2000 and August 2023. All patients who submitted a report were also taking antidepressants.
The study, which was published on Tuesday JAMA Network Openedfound 107 reports of patients using semaglutide between 2011 and 2023 and 162 reports of patients using liraglutide between 2000 and 2023.
About a third of patients who took both medications did so off-label, meaning they didn’t have a prescription. In addition, one in four took them for weight management, and another one in four did so for diabetes management.
Of those who reported suicidal effects from semaglutide, 88 percent had suicidal thoughts, 6.5 percent attempted an overdose, and 6.5 percent attempted suicide. In the liraglutide group, 72 percent thought about suicide, 12 percent completed suicide, and 10 percent attempted suicide.
For both the semaglutide and liraglutide groups, suicidal thoughts stopped in 62 percent of cases after the drug was stopped.
“Given the risk of suicidal thoughts in people using semaglutide off-label, authorities should consider issuing a warning to inform them of this risk,” the team wrote.
Scott reportedly started taking Ozempic after gaining weight and is now hoping to get it under control (pictured in August 2022). Weeks later, in early March, the father-of-three, 40, sparked health concerns when he appeared emaciated as he left Catch Steak in Los Angeles (pictured)
However, the team noted that “the results of this study should be interpreted in light of several limitations.”
This included the small number of patients who reported these effects while taking antidepressants and GLP-1 drugs. Other factors that lead to suicidal thoughts, such as living conditions and alcohol or drug use, were also not taken into account.
Dr Stephen Evans, emeritus professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, warned that the data are based solely on reports from doctors to health authorities and are therefore prone to bias.
“I don’t think this is an important or noteworthy article and it has major limitations,” he said.
“The evidence is extremely weak for a real effect in this case. We cannot conclude from the study that semaglutide itself is responsible for suicidality.”
Dr Kevin McConway, emeritus professor of applied statistics at the Open University in England, said: (The authors) point out that from the data they used, there is no way to determine whether this disproportionately high number of reports of suicidal thoughts for semaglutide is actually caused by the patients having taken semaglutide.’
‘That’s for a number of reasons, partly because there will be a lot of differences between patients taking semaglutide and patients taking other medications, regardless of whether they were taking semaglutide. The high number of reports could be due to one or more of these other differences rather than the medication.’
“Those other reasons may not be in the database at all. In addition, there is no information to be found about people who have not had any form of reported adverse event.”
A recent Gallup survey found that one in 15 adults in the US (six percent) have used diabetes injections, such as Ozempic.
