According to the Banner Poison and Drug Information Center, more calls are coming in about problems caused by a weight-loss drug.
In 2023, the center said it got 83 calls about semaglutide, a drug that is often used to treat Type 2 diabetes. In 2022, 44 calls about drug problems were made to the center.
A lot of the calls the center gets are about people feeling sick, throwing up, and being thirsty. The center says that more people have had to go to the hospital because of their symptoms in the past year.
The center’s director, Maureen Roland, said, “We urge caution with use, especially if you get the medicine from a compounding pharmacy where you may be making up the dose yourself.” “This is where we see a lot of therapeutic fail.” People should talk to their doctors about all the pros and cons of any medicine before taking it.
As of late, semaglutide has become more popular as a weight-loss drug, but the center warned that people taking this kind of medicine should be closely watched by medical workers.
Dr. Farah Husain, Banner Health’s division chief of bariatric and metabolic surgery, said, “It is becoming more and more important for patients to understand that this is not a fun way to lose weight.”