Over the past few months, gastroparesis, or stomach paralysis, has made significant headlines. It has been in the news A LOT recently, due to an Ozempic lawsuit in the US and a new Canadian study into the health risks of Ozempic.
The first notable incident occurred in August 2023. A woman in the United States filed a lawsuit against the drug manufacturers of Mounjaro and Ozempic. She is alleging that she suffered severe gastrointestinal injuries, including gastroparesis – the same illness I was diagnosed with last fall.
Adding to the discourse, on October 5, 2023, Canadian researchers unveiled a report suggesting that individuals using Ozempic and other injectable weight loss medications may face a higher risk of developing serious digestive issues, including gastroparesis.
In this blog post, I embark on a comprehensive exploration of these pressing topics.
Understanding Gastroparesis
Gastroparesis literally translates to stomach paralysis. Gastroparesis is a stomach disorder that slows or stops the movement of food from your stomach into your small intestine. It is also known as delayed gastric emptying.
In short, the two most common symptoms of gastroparesis are nausea and vomiting. Gastroparesis is caused by a variety of things, including diabetes or infections. For more information on gastroparesis, you can read my blog post about it here.
Ozempic and Mounjaro
Mounjaro and Ozempic are two different types of drugs being used for weight loss.
Ozempic
Semaglutide
Ozempic is an injectable drug – semaglutide – primarily used to manage diabetes. It lowers blood sugar levels and regulates insulin, and is primarily used to treat Type 2 diabetics. The drug also signals to your body that you feel full, prompting your stomach to empty more slowly. As such, it has slowly started being used for weight loss.
In 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Association (“FDA”) approved semaglutide for people who are obese without diabetes. When prescribed for diabetes, it is sold under the brand name Ozempic. When prescribed for weight loss, it is sold as a higher dose under the brand name Wegovy.
Mounjaro
Tirzepatide
Mounjaro is another injectable drug – tirzepatide – that is also approved in the US to treat Type 2 diabetes. Mounjaro is also being used by some for weight loss.
Like semaglutide, tirzepatide slows stomach (gastric) emptying, making people feel full longer.
The manufacturers of Mounjaro are currently seeking FDA approval for the drug to be covered for weight management. Until then, those in the US can still get the drug for weight loss reasons, but must pay out of pocket. It costs about $1,000 USD a month.
Over the last few years, these drugs have become popular ways to lose weight. The drugs gained notoriety after celebrities were accused of using them off-label, or not for their intended purposes. For example, Mindy Kaling allegedly held Ozempic parties, where she and her friends would allegedly all get injected together.
Ozempic was making the news because these people were fuelling a drug shortage. Those who really needed it could no longer get it, blaming celebrities and TikTokers for buying it up faster than the manufacturers could produce it.
The Ozempic Lawsuit
Jaclyn Bjorkland, a 44-year-old woman living in the United States, claimed that she used Ozempic and Mounjaro for over a year before developing severe gastrointestinal issues, including gastroparesis. She is now suing the makers of both drugs for failing to warn of the risk of severe gastrointestinal events that the drugs could have caused.
The lawsuit alleges that she “sustained severe and permanent personal injuries, pain, suffering, and emotional distress, and incurred medical expenses”. It says that the makers knew of “the risk of developing severe gastrointestinal issues, including gastroparesis and gastroenteritis”.
The lawsuit is seeking compensatory and punitive damages for past and future pain. While the prescription information warned about other side effects, they did not warn the public of the risk of severe gastroparesis.
Her lawyers stated that “we intend to file many more [lawsuits] in the coming days and weeks” against these drug companies for “a failure to warn”. They said that they are investing 400 other instances from individuals across the country.
According to CNN, patients and doctors have been warning about gastroparesis and other negative side effects after taking Wegovy and Ozempic. One of the issues with gastroparesis is that it is difficult to pinpoint its cause. Diabetes is the most common cause of gastroparesis, which is a reason many individuals start taking these drugs in the first place.
But there are other causes of gastroparesis as well. It can be caused by infections or certain other medications. My gastroparesis was caused by COVID-19. I stopped being able to eat two days after testing positive. Of course, there is no way to test this theory.
The FDA Update
In late September 2023, the FDA began warning users that semaglutide has been linked to ileus, or intestinal blockage, meaning food can’t pass through your intestines, after at least 16 people reported serious intestinal blockages linked to Ozempic.
The FDA says that while there is not yet evidence that Ozempic caused the blockages, they have been linked to Ozempic.
While not quite gastroparesis, the two can be related. Some people have both – delayed stomach emptying and intestinal blockage.
Canadian Research Report
On October 5, 2023, a study released out of British Columbia found that people taking injectable medications for weight loss, including Ozempic and Wegovy, among others, may be at a higher risk of developing serious digestive problems including stomach paralysis, pancreatitis, and bowel obstructions, compared to those taking other types of weight loss medications.
The study found that approximately 1% of people taking Ozempic were diagnosed with stomach paralysis.
The study looked at a random sample of over 16 million individuals in the United States who had filed insurance claims between 2006 and 2020 and had been prescribed two injected drugs – semaglutide and liraglutide. Both drugs belong to the GLP-1 antagonist class and slow the passage of food through the stomach.
The study did not include people who had been diagnosed with diabetes (a leading cause of gastroparesis), or who were taking any other drug to control their blood sugar. They compared the frequency of serious digestive problems in those patients to patients taking a different type of weight loss medication called Contrave.
The researchers found that people taking Ozempic and another similar drug, Saxenda, were much more likely to develop serious stomach and intestinal problems compared with those taking Contrave. They found that approximately 1% of people taking Ozempic and .7% of those taking Saxenda had stomach paralysis, while only .3% of those taking Contrave did.
There are some issues with the study, including that it was retrospective – looking at cases in the past. The study only shows associations – it did not prove that the drugs caused these stomach conditions.
As tens of millions of people are now taking these drugs, the researchers state that this could lead to hundreds of thousands of new cases of gastroparesis and other severe gastrointestinal issues.
Note:
It is important to note that these drugs are considered safe for most people. Always consult your doctor before starting or stopping prescription medication.
Examining the Link
It will be interesting to see what comes next – both in terms of the lawsuit and future studies. Reporting on gastroparesis is so important as it helps spread awareness of the disease. The study’s findings are significant in that they could spur further research into the causes of gastroparesis. I hope that further research into its causes could eventually lead to the development of new treatments for gastroparesis.
If you have any thoughts on or experiences with these drugs, let me know in the comments!