New Study Reveals Ozempic, Wegovy Linked To 'Potentially Blinding Eye Condition'

Shares of Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly extended declines after Mass Eye and Ear, a Harvard-affiliated hospital, revealed in a new study published in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology that people prescribed semaglutide, sold as Ozempic and Wegovy (Novo), have an elevated risk of developing a "potentially blinding eye condition" called nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION). 

"The study found people with diabetes who had been prescribed semaglutide by their physician and then filled the prescription were more than four times more likely to be diagnosed with NAION," Mass Eye and Ear wrote in a press release, adding, "Those who were overweight or had obesity and prescribed this drug were more than seven times more likely to get the diagnosis." 

The study, which was led by Joseph Rizzo, MD, director of the Neuro-Ophthalmology Service at Mass Eye and Ear, wrote that the "use of these drugs has exploded throughout industrialized countries and they have provided very significant benefits in many ways, but future discussions between a patient and their physician should include NAION as a potential risk."