Calls to poison control centers involving semaglutide — the drug sold as Ozempic for type 2 diabetes and Wegovy for weight management — soared more than five times after the FDA approved it for obesity in 2021, rising from approximately 1,500 calls per year to more than 8,000 by 2023. And the leading cause was not an accidental overdose or a dangerous drug interaction. It was two entirely preventable mistakes: patients injecting the drug daily instead of weekly, and patients starting at the maximum dose instead of gradually stepping up as the prescribing instructions require.
A study published in the Journal of Medical Toxicology documents the full trajectory of this surge and concludes that most of these cases could have been prevented with better patient education at the point of prescribing.
