Weight-loss and diabetes jabs linked to sudden sight loss as US orders new warnings

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A rare eye condition that can cause sudden painless sight loss is at the centre of new US warnings for weight-loss and diabetes medicines. The UK medicines regulator has issued separate advise for people taking the drug

Health authorities have warned of a possible link between some weight-loss and diabetes medicines and a rare condition that can cause sudden sight loss.

In February, the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) advised people taking semaglutide to go urgently to eye casualty or A&E if they suddenly lose sight or their vision gets worse quickly in one or both eyes. The condition, known as non-arteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy (NAION), can make vision suddenly go blurry or cloudy.

The UK update came months after the European Medicines Agency concluded that NAION was a very rare side effect of semaglutide and could affect up to one in 10,000 people taking it. It recommended updating the product information for Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus.

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The World Health Organization and Australia’s medicines regulator have also issued safety alerts. Health Canada opened a safety review in October 2025 into a possible link between semaglutide and NAION. It has yet to publish its findings.

On 9 November, the US Food and Drug Administration ordered manufacturers to add the potential risk of NAION to the “Warnings and Precautions” section of the labels for all GLP-1 receptor agonist medicines. The US requirement goes beyond semaglutide and also covers tirzepatide, sold as Mounjaro and Zepbound.

A review cited by the MHRA estimated around one extra case of NAION a year for every 10,000 adults with type 2 diabetes treated with semaglutide, the active ingredient in some weight loss jabs. The condition, called non-arteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy (NAION), happens when blood flow to part of the optic nerve is reduced. Sight loss can come on without pain and may start with vision going blurry or cloudy.

Semaglutide is also the…

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