Side-effects linked to Ozempic kills a woman in Australia, claims husband
A 56-year-old Australian woman died from a severe stomach illness after using Ozempic to lose weight for her daughter's wedding.
A 56-year-old Australian woman who used Ozempic to lose weight for her daughter’s wedding has passed away from a severe stomach illness — and her husband is warning others that the drug is “not worth it at all.”
Trish Webster was prescribed Ozempic, a medication for Type 2 diabetes that is also widely used as a weight-loss drug around the world, to help her fit into her dream dress for her daughter’s big day.
Ozempic works by copying a natural hormone, GLP-1, that slows down the digestion of food and makes people feel full for longer.
However, the drug can also cause serious problems if it slows down the stomach too much or blocks the intestines. This condition is called “ileus” — and the US Food and Drug Administration received 18 reports of it in people who took Ozempic as of late September.
Webster also used another prescription injection, Saxenda, along with Ozempic, and managed to drop about 35 pounds in five months, according to local media reports.
But the drugs reportedly made her sick.
On January 16, only a few months before her daughter's wedding, Webster's spouse discovered her in an unconscious state, with a brown liquid emanating from her mouth.
“She had a little bit of brown stuff coming out of her mouth, and I realized she wasn’t breathing and started doing CPR,” Roy Webster told “60 Minutes Australia” last week.
“It was just pouring out, and I turned her onto the side because she couldn’t breathe.”
Webster died that night, and her death was attributed to acute gastrointestinal illness.
“If I knew that could happen, she wouldn’t have been taking it,” the heartbroken husband said. “I never thought you could die from it.”
While Webster’s death has not been officially linked to her use of Ozempic and Saxenda, her husband is holding the drugs responsible.
“She shouldn’t be gone, you know,” Roy said.
“It’s just not worth it, it’s not worth it at all.”
Novo Nordisk, the maker of Ozempic, said in a statement to ‘60 Minutes Australia’ that ileus was only reported after the drug was already on the market, implying that the drugmaker did not know about the risk before.
Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly and Company, the manufacturers of Mounjaro, are currently embroiled in US lawsuits, as they face allegations that their widely-used weight-loss medications may lead to serious gastrointestinal issues, including gastroparesis or "stomach paralysis," which can have life-threatening consequences.
In August, the law firm Morgan & Morgan reported that it had fielded approximately 500 inquiries from clients in 45 states regarding similar concerns. They also received claims of injuries attributed to other weight-loss medications, including Wegovy, Rybelsus, and Saxenda.
Novo Nordisk quoted to The New York Post at the time, “Semaglutide has been extensively examined in robust clinical development programs, large real world evidence studies and has cumulatively over 9.5 million patient years of exposure.”
The company also noted that “gastrointestinal (GI) events are well-known side effects of the GLP-1 class.”
Lilly told the outlet in a statement, “Patient safety is Lilly’s top priority, and we actively engage in monitoring, evaluating and reporting safety information for all our medicines.”
The FDA updated the Ozempic label in September to acknowledge complaints of intestinal blockage in some people who have used the medication.