GLP-1 Drug Prescriptions Have Doubled in Recent Years, But Many Users Quit Soon After Starting

Use of Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and other GLP-1 drugs has spiked in recent years due to their effectiveness promoting weight loss, but side effects often cause users to discontinue the treatment within the first year.

While new research highlights how the use of Ozempic, Wegovy, and similar GLP-1 drugs for weight-loss management has risen dramatically, another study reveals that most users stop taking them within a year, raising questions about whether side effects of the medication have been adequately disclosed.

The drugs, which also include Mounjaro and Zepbound (tirzepatide), as well as Victoza and Trulicity, all belong to a class of medications known as glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists. In recent years, the drugs have transitioned from being solely for type 2 diabetes treatment to increasing use as weight loss drugs, with Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound being developed specifically for that purpose.

However, while many studies have heralded the drugs’ benefits for metabolic issues linked to diabetes, many researchers have cautioned that there are potentially serious health risks as well, such as severe gastrointestinal problems, stomach paralysis and intestinal blockages, which some critics indicate has not been adequately disclosed on the drug labels.

As a result, thousands of individuals are now pursuing Ozempic lawsuits, Wegovy lawsuits and Mounjaro lawsuits, each raising similar allegations that the drug makers intentionally downplayed the gastrointestinal risks and failed to warn about the serious nature of these potential side effects.

In the first study, published January 29 in JAMA Network Open, a research team from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, led by Dr. Philipp Berning, conducted a cross-sectional study linking online searches with GLP-1 prescriptions from July 2017 through February 2024.

During that time period, prescriptions for drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy (semaglutide) increased from about 0.8 million to more than 1.5 million, growing annually at a rate of 5.3%. That accounted for 0.41% of all medical prescriptions in February 2024, with Wegovy, Saxenda and Zepbound, and generic phentermine being the most prescribed.

The researchers determined those increases were linked to increased online searches by consumers regarding those specific drugs, with the strongest correlations found between online searches and new prescriptions for Wegovy and Zepbound.

“This repeated cross-sectional study shows the dynamic growth and evolving share of new obesity medications since 2017 and a significant shift toward semaglutide and tirzepatide prescribing,” the researchers concluded. “The joint surge in prescriptions and online searches and their close correlation highlight the real-time associations between public awareness and prescription trends.”

Most GLP-1 Users Quit Within a Year

Berning’s findings were followed just days later by another study published in JAMA Network Open on January 31, by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, who noted that GLP-1 use comes with high rates of discontinuation.

This research team, led by Dr. Patricia J. Rodriguez, conducted a cohort study involving 125,474 patients who started GLP-1 medications, including Victoza (liraglutide), Ozempic and Wegovy, and Mounjaro and Zepbound between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2023. They followed the patients for up to two years to determine whether they stayed with the treatments, and an additional two years to see if they came back to them.

According to their findings, 53.6% discontinued GLP-1 treatment by the end of year one, with higher rates of discontinuation (64.8%) seen among those using the drugs solely for weight loss, when compared with the 46.5% of those who quit after using the medications as a diabetes treatment.

The researchers noted that the more weight the patient lost, the more likely they were to stick with the drugs. In addition, discontinuation was higher among those ages 65 and older. They also noted that patients who experienced moderate to severe gastrointestinal adverse events, like gastroparesis, were also more likely to discontinue GLP-1 use.

However, the researchers also noted that income played a factor, with those in higher income brackets most likely to continue use, especially if they were taking the drugs for weight loss.

“In this cohort study, most patients with overweight or obesity discontinued GLP-1 RA therapy within 1 year, but those without type 2 diabetes had higher discontinuation rates and lower reinitiation rates,” the researchers concluded. “Inequities in access and adherence to effective treatments have the potential to exacerbate disparities in obesity.”

GLP-1 Side Effects Lawsuits

The two studies come as more than 1,300 lawsuits are currently being pursued against the makers of Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and other similar diabetes and weight loss drugs, each raising similar allegations that a desire for increased profits was placed above consumer safety by failing to research and disclose gastroparesis side effects users may experience.

Given common questions of fact and law raised in complaints filed throughout the federal court system, all GLP-1 lawsuits have been centralized as part of a multidistrict litigation (MDL) in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where they are currently being overseen by U.S. District Judge Karen Marston.

Judge Marston has directed the parties to focus in the early stages of the litigation on “cross cutting” issues, which will impact a large number of claims. This includes discovery and pretrial motions regarding general causation evidence about the link between Ozempic and ileus, gastroparesis and other injuries, as well as questions about whether the claims are preempted by federal law and whether plaintiffs will be required to provide specific testing evidence to establish they suffered an injury.

Following the resolution of those issues, Judge Marston is expected to direct the parties to select representative GLP-1 lawsuits for early bellwether test trials, to help gauge how juries will respond to evidence and expert testimony likely to be repeated throughout the litigation.

While the outcomes of such early test trials are not binding on other claims, they could help potentially facilitate a GLP-1 settlement agreement that would avoid the need for each individual case to be set for trial in the future.