Taking weight loss drugs like Ozempic alongside antidepressants may raise the risk of suicide, a major study suggests.
Researchers in New York, Switzerland and Italy combed through a World Health Organization database for reports of suicidal thoughts among people taking the drugs in more than 140 countries.
The team then narrowed their search to reports of suicidal thoughts or attempts from patients taking both an antidepressant and either semaglutide or liraglutide — the active ingredients in Ozempic and Victoza, respectively.
They found 107 cases of suicidal or self-harm thoughts or actions among those who took semaglutide and 162 from those on liraglutide, suggesting a harmful interaction between the weight loss drugs and antidepressants.
Rsearchers in three countries suggested that taking antidepressants and drugs like Ozempic could lead to suicidal thoughts or actions based on drug interactions
Sharon Osbourne shared that she lost so much weight taking Ozempic that she could not afford to lose anymore. She also shocked fans with her gaunt appearance at a Taylor Swift concert this week
However, experts today slammed the study for its ‘weak evidence’ and ‘major limitations’ based on ‘spontaneous reports’ of interactions between GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and antidepressants.
They also cautioned that the proportion of reports linked to both drugs was too small to determine an association.
The findings come as Sharon Osbourne alarmed fans this week with her gaunt appearance at the Taylor Swift Eras Tour show in London.
Osbourne has also admitted she ‘lost too much weight’ with 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. This includes 36million reports from over 140 countries.
The team collected reports related to suicide and self-harm in those also taking semaglutide or liraglutide between November 2000 and August 2023. All patients filing reports were also taking antidepressants.
The study, published in the journal JAMA Network Open, found 107 reports from patients taking semaglutide between 2011 and 2023 and 162 reports from patients taking liraglutide between 2000 and 2023.
About one-third of patients using both drugs did so with off-label use, meaning they did not have a prescription.
Additionally, one in four took them for weight management, and another one in four did so for diabetes management.
Of those reporting suicidal effects from semaglutide, 88 percent had suicidal ideation, 6.5 percent tried to 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 ideation stopped after discontinuing the drug 62 percent of the time.
‘Considering the risk of suicidal ideation in people taking semaglutide off-label, authorities should consider issuing a warning to inform about this risk,’ the team wrote.
However, they noted that ‘the results of this study should be interpreted in light of several limitations.’
These included the small number of patients reporting these effects while taking antidepressants and GLP-1 medications, as well as not accounting for other factors leading to suicidal ideation, such as living circumstances and alcohol or drug use.
Dr Stephen Evans, emeritus professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, cautioned that the data is based on reports sent from doctors to health agencies only and is subject to bias.
‘In my view this is not a significant or noteworthy paper, and it has major limitations,’ he said.
Scott reportedly started using 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 fears for his health when he was pictured looking gaunt on leaving Catch Steak in Los Angeles (pictured)
‘The evidence is extremely weak for a genuine effect in this instance. We can’t 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, added: [The authors] point out that there’s no way of telling, from the data they used, that this disproportionally high rate of mentions of suicidal ideation for semaglutide is actually caused by the patients having used semaglutide.
‘That’s for a number of reasons – partly because there will be many differences between patients who took semaglutide and patients who took other drugs.
‘Those other reasons may not all be on the database at all – and there’s no information there about people who did not have any kind of reported adverse reaction.’
Meanwhile, Dr Stephen Burgess an expert in genetic epidemiology at the University of Cambridge, said: ‘I am concerned that these analyses combine and conflate on-target effects of GLP-1R agonists with the broader consequences of weight loss.’
He added: ‘This is a life-changing intervention that will have largely positive consequences for many.
‘But for others, the impact of losing a large amount of weight could have negative emotional consequences.
‘If an individual thinks that losing weight is the key to happiness, but losing weight does not bring happiness, could this lead to depression and suicidal ideation?
‘We need to understand whether these results represent a specific side-effect of these drugs, or an uncommon but tragic consequence of some individuals’ weight loss journey.’
Weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy mimic the production of the hormone GLP-1, which helps keep the body full
A spokesperson for Novo Nordisk, which produces Wegovy and Ozempic, said: ‘Independent research, preliminary findings from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and conclusions from a European Medicines Agency analysis did not find an association between use of GLP-1RA medicines and the occurrence of increased risk of suicidal thoughts or actions.’
They added: ‘We stand behind the safety and efficacy of all of our GLP-1RA medicines when they are used as indicated and when taken under the care of a licensed healthcare professional.’
A recent Gallup poll found that one in 15 US adults — six percent — have used injectible diabetes drugs like Ozempic.
Semaglutide has been available on the NHS in the UK since 2019, and in the US since 2017, for type 2 diabetics to manage blood sugar levels.
Another semaglutide drug was also approved in Britain for weight loss in 2022, and in the US in 2021, under the brand Wegovy.
Like any medication, semaglutide can cause side effects that vary in both frequency and severity. Reported problems include nausea, constipation, diarrhoea, fatigue, stomach pain, headaches and dizziness.
Bizarre symptoms, such as hair loss, have also been reported among some patients.
Latest NHS data shows 26 per cent of adults in England are obese and a further 38 per cent are overweight but not obese. In the US an estimated 41.9 per cent of adult population are obese.
Despite the hormone mimicking jabs being designed to help overweight patients become healthier, there have also been growing concerns about the number of normal weight and underweight patients taking them for cosmetic reasons.
Some have even needed emergency room care after taking jabs in a bid to become ‘beach body ready’.