Health officials in Europe are investigating a link between the popular weight loss drug Ozempic and a rare condition that causes blindness. Back-to-back Danish studies published in December found that taking Ozempic is causing some people to experience non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION).
In layman’s terms, the condition causes a person’s eyeballs to die and rot inside their skull, which obviously leaves them blind. But at least they’ll no longer be fat!
The studies independently found that using Novo Nordisk’s popular fat-burning drug more than doubles a person’s risk of developing NAION. The rare condition causes a lack of blood flow to the optic nerve, which connects the eyeball to the brain. Without blood, the affected areas start to swell up and die, leading to severe vision loss or blindness.
The part that really sucks is that NAION happens extremely fast, without warning. It’s painless, so people don’t even realize something is wrong until their eyeballs are already rotting out of their heads and they can’t see anything.
In a statement that doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence, Novo Nordisk said that the benefit of no longer being fat far outweighs the risk of having your eyeballs rot inside your skull. The company is asking the European Medicines Agency to please not pull Ozempic from the market just because it might be making a few people go blind. It’s the new “safe and effective!”
Research now shows that about 25% of Generation Z are skipping out on the gym and dieting entirely and asking their doctors for Ozempic prescriptions. Ozempic (semaglutide) is primarily approved for diabetics to help them control their weight. Doctors are allowed to prescribe it off-label for patients, however. Ozempic also carries a high risk of liver damage in patients.
