Ozempic has become a popular weight-loss drug around the world. (Representational Image: Unsplash)
An Australian woman wanted to lose weight for her daughter's wedding. Trish Webster, 56, was prescribed Ozempic, a medication primarily used to treat Type 2 diabetes and weight loss. However, her story took a horrific turn after she died from gastrointestinal illness. Her husband is now warning that the popular weight loss drug is "not worth it at all."
Ozempic has become a popular weight-loss drug around the world. According to the New York Post, the drug works by mimicking a natural hormone, GLP-1, which slows down the passage of food through the stomach and intestines, making people feel full longer.
However, it can also lead to problems if the drug slows down the stomach too much or blocks the intestines. Mrs Webster took Ozempic along with the prescription injection Saxenda and lost around 15 kg in five months. The medication initially helped Mrs Webster lose weight quickly, but it soon made her sick.
On January 16, a few months before her daughter's wedding, Mrs Webster's husband found her unconscious with a brown liquid coming out of 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.
"It was just pouring out, and I turned her onto the side because she couldn't breathe."
Mrs Webster died that night and the cause of her death was listed as acute gastrointestinal illness.
"If I knew that could happen, she wouldn't have been taking it," the grieving husband told the media outlet. "I never thought you could die from it."
While doctors have not linked Mrs Webster's death to her Ozempic and Saxenda usage, her husband believes the drugs were the culprits.
"She shouldn't be gone, you know," Roy said. "It's just not worth it, it's not worth it at all."
In a statement, the manufacturer of Ozempic, Novo Nordisk, said the recurring stomach complication ileus was only reported after what it calls its "post-marketing setting", suggesting they only became aware of the problem after the drug was released and became a pharmaceutical blockbuster.