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Saturday, March 8, 2025

We went blind after using weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro

When James Norris, a 56-year-old mechanic from Roxbury, New Jersey, went on a low dose of Mounjaro, a GLP-1 medication similar to Ozempic, to lose weight in March 2023, he thought it would be a miracle drug.

At 289 pounds, he had struggled to lose weight for years with diet and exercise. His wife had lost 60 pounds in several months on the medication, and her success convinced him to give it a shot.

“I just couldn’t keep weight off — [the drug] seemed like a good alternative,” he said.

In the year that followed, he lost 89 pounds and was able to wean off medications he was taking for high blood pressure and cholesterol.

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Then, in March 2024, shortly after his doctor upped his dosage to 2.5 milligrams (he’d started at 1.5 mg), he woke up one morning with clouded vision in his left eye. Two weeks later, vision in his right eye became blurry.

“I didn’t know what was going on,” said Norris, who initially thought a sinus infection might be to blame.

But, after getting a CT-scan and seeing a neuro-ophthalmologist, it was revealed he had non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), a condition in which the loss of blood flow to the optic nerve causes sudden vision loss.

“I was devastated,” he said. “It’s extremely rare to get NAION in both eyes.”

Recent studies have shown an association between drugs such as Ozempic, Mounjaro and Wegovy — which have become phenomenally popular for weight loss — and an increased risk of NAION.

Of the estimated 15 million Americans now taking such medications for Type 2 diabetes and weight loss, only a relative few have experienced the issue, but for those who have, it’s life-altering.

“I’ve been a mechanic my whole life — I can’t do anything hands on anymore,” said Norris, who stopped taking Mounjaro around July 2024 but still has significantly impaired vision.

He now mostly does administrative work from a computer and believes the risk of the medications, particularly at higher doses, isn’t worth it.

While it’s unclear how many people on these drugs are experiencing vision issues, Norris’s attorney, Robert King, said his firm alone has received “hundreds” of GLP-1 medication and vision-loss related cases.

“The biggest thing is the sheer number of eye injury cases related to something that is supposed to be gastrointestinal medication and the fact that no one would ever suspect a weight loss drug is going to make them immediately blind in one eye,” King, who is based in Rochester, NY, told The Post.

A review conducted by physician-scientists from the University of Utah’s John A. Moran Eye Center published in JAMA Ophthalmology on January 30, 2025, looked at nine patients who reported vision loss after taking semaglutide or tirzepatide, the active ingredients in Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound.

They found the patients taking these drugs developed three potentially blinding conditions affecting the optic nerve — the part of the eye that sends visual signals to the brain.

Of the nine patients, seven reported NAION-like symptoms; one had papillitis, an inflammation of the optic nerve head; and one individual developed paracentral acute middle maculopathy, which can cause a blind spot in vision.

The January study came on the heels of July 2024 research from Mass Eye and Ear, a teaching hospital at Harvard Medical School. It found an association between semaglutides and an increased risk of NAION.

Diabetics taking the medication were found to be four times more at risk for NAOIN than those not on the drugs. Those who were overweight or obese and taking the drug to lose weight were seven times more at risk.

Norris wasn’t aware of any such dangers when he went on the drug.

“I had no idea this could happen,” he said, noting that he plans to file a lawsuit against Mounjaro drugmaker Lilly and Company.

Ozempic and Mounjaro list “changes in vision” as a potential side effect on their websites, while Wegovy lists “change in vision in people with type 2 diabetes.” None of the websites explicitly warn users about NAION.

A spokesperson for Lilly, the US company that makes Mounjaro, as well as the similar Zepbound, said patient safety is a “top priority” and they “actively engage in monitoring, evaluating, and reporting safety information for all our medicines.”

A spokesperson for Novo Nordisk, the Danish manufacturer of Ozempic and Wegovy, told The Post “NAION is a very rare eye disease, and it is not an adverse drug reaction.” They said that after evaluating the research and an internal safety assessment, “Novo Nordisk is of the opinion that the benefit-risk profile of semaglutide remains unchanged.”

Dr. Joseph Rizzo, professor of ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School and a senior author on the study published in JAMA Ophthalmology, told The Post that he isn’t outright discouraging people from taking these medications, but those who already have vision loss should proceed with caution.

“Let’s say they don’t have diabetes but they have advanced glaucoma, then I would be exceptionally careful about taking the medicine — you’re not starting from a normal visual status,” he told The Post.

San Diego-based Michael Sabellico, 60, did have normal vision when he went on Ozempic in March 2024 to both lose weight and manage his Type 2 diabetes.

When he started, he weighed 185 pounds and had near perfect sight. After eight weeks on a dose of 1.5 mg, he was down five pounds. But then he woke up one morning and couldn’t see clearly.

An optometrist found his optic nerve was inflamed and diagnosed him with NAION. He was given a steroid to help with the inflammation.

But, because there was no research at the time linking NAION to GLP-1s, doctors also upped his dosage of Ozempic to manage his blood sugar.

He didn’t stop the Ozempic until May, 2024, at which point his vision was permanently impaired.

He now has 20/70 vision in his left eye and below average 20/30 vision in his right eye.

“If I had a patch over my right eye it would be difficult to read,” said Sabellico, who is now managing his diabetes with the drug Trulicity and plans to take legal action. “The letters jump around.”

Cheryl Bovee, a 56-year-old former retail worker from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, has already taken legal action against Novo Nordisk. She filed a lawsuit in February alleging that the company’s marketing was “deceptive and misleading about the true risks associated with [the] use of Ozempic.”

She is legally blind after developing NAION while using Ozempic as directed by her physicians to manage her Type 2 Diabetes last year. She was not on the medication for weight loss and it’s unclear how much her weight changed while on it, her lawyer noted.

What is clear, however, is that her vision is severely degraded.

“I can no longer work. I can no longer drive. I have to be careful just walking around my block. I can’t see at night,” Bovee said. “It’s completely changed my life.”

A widow, she had hoped to spend her retirement traveling and spending time with her family. Now she worries about being able to care for herself.

“I no longer have the hope of seeing my grandchildren. I no longer have the hope of seeing their faces clearly. I can’t have any sort of independence — I’m no longer going to be able to live by myself,” she said.

“All of my hopes and dreams have been dashed.”

https://nypost.com/2025/03/08/health/people-going-blind-after-using-weight-loss-drugs-like-ozempic-and-mounjaro/

Long-Term Use of NSAIDs Linked to Lower Dementia Risk

Long-term use of NSAIDs was linked to a lower risk of dementia over 14.5 years of follow-up.
NSAIDs without known amyloid-beta effects showed a stronger protective association than others.
Cumulative NSAID doses showed no association with dementia risk.

Long-term use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) was tied to a decreased risk of dementia, data from the prospective Rotterdam Study showed.

Over an average follow-up of 14.5 years, use of NSAIDs for 24 months or longer was associated with a 12% lower risk of dementia compared with non-use (HR 0.88, 95% CI 0.84-0.91), reported M. Arfan Ikram, MD, PhD, of Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and co-authors.

The cumulative dose of NSAIDs, however, was not associated with decreased dementia risk, Ikram and colleagues noted in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Societyopens in a new tab or window.

The findings could not be explained by the amyloid-lowering properties of specific NSAIDs, the researchers said. Associations were stronger for long-term use of NSAIDs without known effects on amyloid-beta (HR 0.79, 95% CI 0.74-0.85) compared with amyloid-lowering NSAIDs (HR 0.89, 95% CI 0.85-0.93).

For people who used NSAIDs for less than 1 month, dementia risk was slightly elevated (HR 1.04, 95% CI 1.02-1.07), as it was for people who used NSAIDs for 1 month to 24 months (HR 1.04, 95% CI 1.02-1.06).

The findings provide important insights into the relationship between inflammation and dementia risk, suggesting that prolonged, rather than intensive, exposure to anti-inflammatory medication may hold potential for dementia prevention, the researchers noted.

There's a strong hypothesis that inflammation plays a role in the dementia process and in Alzheimer's disease, Ikram pointed out.

"This evidence comes from genetic and animal model studies, as well as some limited studies in clinical patients," he told MedPage Today.

"The idea is that low-grade inflammation contributes to brain damage -- and may also be a result of brain damage due to other detrimental causes like amyloid deposition or arteriolosclerosis," he said. "This may induce a vicious cycle of various pathological processes enhancing and maintaining each other."

The Rotterdam Study findings "suggest the inflammatory process in dementia may be very low-grade and protracted over a long period of time," especially since high doses of NSAIDs over a short time frame didn't reduce dementia risk, Ikram observed. "This makes sense: dementia has a very long preclinical phase during which the pathology slowly accumulates," he said.

Other studies have identified relationships between anti-inflammatory agentsopens in a new tab or window and dementia. A meta-analysisopens in a new tab or window showed a decreased dementia risk with NSAIDs in observational studies, but clinical trials -- which typically assess NSAID use over much shorter time frames -- have not.

Ikram and colleagues followed 11,745 participants in the population-based Rotterdam Studyopens in a new tab or window who were dementia-free at baseline. More than half (59.5%) were women, and mean age was 66.

The researchers used pharmacy dispensing records to determine cumulative duration and dose of NSAIDs starting in 1991. They defined four categories of cumulative use: non-use, short-term use (under 1 month), intermediate-term use (1 to 24 months), and long-term use (over 24 months).

Models were adjusted for lifestyle factors, comorbidities, and co-medication use. The researchers repeated this analysis after stratifying NSAIDs by their previously established amyloid-beta-lowering properties.

The study's main limitation was its observational nature, Ikram noted. "There is a reason why some individuals did versus did not take NSAIDs. These reasons may include arthritis, pain, or other inflammatory conditions," he said.

"It is impossible to fully adjust for the effect of these other conditions," he acknowledged. "If these other conditions are in any way linked to dementia, it may distort our findings. However, the fact that we found a lower risk of dementia in users compared to non-users indicates that any such distortion may have been limited."

The findings are also insufficient to start advising people to take NSAIDs for dementia, Ikram emphasized.

"Further evidence from similar studies or clinical trials is needed, complemented with proper risk-benefit analyses and a proper assessment on how any use of NSAIDs may or may not outweigh side effects or impact on other bodily functions," he noted.

Disclosures

The Rotterdam Study is funded by Erasmus Medical Center and Erasmus University Rotterdam; the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development; the Research Institute for Diseases in the Elderly; the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science; the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Sports; the European Commission; and the Municipality of Rotterdam.

Ikram and co-authors reported no conflicts of interest.

Primary Source

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

Source Reference: opens in a new tab or windowvom Hofe I, et al "Long-term exposure to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication in relation to dementia risk" J Am Geriatr Soc 2025; DOI: 10.1111/jgs.19411.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/neurology/dementia/114555

So why didn't you tell them? 'People won't oppose cuts if they don't know they're on Medicaid'

As doctors and healthcare advocates, we have spent years perfecting the art of delivering complex medical information in ways patients can understand and act on. We adjust explanations based on our patients' health histories, personal backgrounds, and the urgency of a situation.

Yet, when it comes to explaining healthcare policy, we often fail to meet people where they are.

Nowhere is this failure more evident than in how we communicate about Medicaid and how federal policies surrounding the program directly affect their lives and communities.

Call Me By My Name -- The One People Know

Medicaid serves lower-income adults, children, pregnant women, and people with disabilities, as well as dually-enrolled Medicare-Medicaid older adults. Despite the talking point that people on Medicaid "don't work," 92% of adults under 65opens in a new tab or window who are on Medicaid and don't receive other social security benefits work full or part-time.

While 80 million Americansopens in a new tab or window are insured through Medicaid, many people don't think of themselves as "on Medicaid" -- even when they are.

Why? Because Medicaid is not branded as Medicaidopens in a new tab or window in most statesopens in a new tab or window. If you tell a patient in South Carolina they might lose Medicaid, their eyes may glaze over. Tell them Healthy Connections is at risk? You have their attention. In Tennessee, Medicaid is TennCare and in Ohio it is the Buckeye Health Plan. In Florida, Medicaid sounds like an orange juice brand: Simply Healthcare. (Seriously, it feels like that moniker should have an exclamation point behind it.)

Adding to the confusion, many states offer Medicaid coverage contracted through private companies. These types of plans are state-funded, private insurance-branded programs (called managed care organizationsopens in a new tab or window) often featuring actual private insurance logos, a fact that further distances them from their federally funded origin. No wonder Tennesseans shrug when we talk about Medicaid recipients. They don't think, or even know, they are one. And if they do not know the issue applies to them, they may be less likely to oppose cutsopens in a new tab or window.

In every state, we need to call Medicaid by its real name.

Articulate Impact at the Community Level

Do you remember the "Austin Powers" scene where Mike Myers, playing Dr. Evil, puts his pinky finger to the corner of his mouth and suggests holding the world hostage for -- pause for effect -- "one million dollars"?

Dr. Evil's conspirators laughed. That is because they understood "one million dollars" was not a whole lot in the current global context. They could relate to a million dollars and think about it in concrete terms. As numbers get larger and larger, however, they become harder to apply to real life. A billion, a trillion -- unless you are Elon Muskopens in a new tab or window, those amounts are abstract.

This is why healthcare advocates need to translate the impact of cuts at the individual, family, and community level. Instead of saying "Republicans want to reduce Medicaid by $880 billionopens in a new tab or window," try, "If Republicans' Medicaid plans come to fruition, you could lose your Buckeye Health Plan health insurance." Or try explaining how these cuts could erode their child's access to care. Nearly half of U.S. childrenopens in a new tab or window rely on Medicaid and 40% of all births are covered by Medicaid. Cutting the program would destabilize pediatric practices, many of which already operate on thin margins. If parents think they already have to wait too long to get a well-child visit, just wait until these cuts take effect.

Healthcare practitioners can share these messages in their everyday visits, through direct community outreach, and on patient-facing websites and social media posts.

Advocates and clinicians must also demonstrate the financial impact of shifting about 20 million Medicaid patientsopens in a new tab or window to uninsured status. For example, at industry and association conferences, in executive briefings, and in professional publications, we need to help hospital administrators understand what Medicaid cuts would mean for their bottom lines: more uncompensated care, more emergency department overcrowding, and more financial strain. For patients, that means letting them know that, particularly in rural areas, Medicaid cuts may mean even more hospital closures. It may mean they have to travel even farther for care.

How to Talk To Policymakers About Medicaid Cuts

Unlike the federal lawmakers, legislators in most statesopens in a new tab or window must balance their budgets every year.

That means cuts to any federal aid program that flows to the states, including Medicaid, throws budgets out of balance. Indeed, federal Medicaid cuts could shift $44.3 billion in costsopens in a new tab or window to the 41 state governments that expanded Medicaid. Local lawmakers will have to decide if they want to reduce access to healthcare or raise taxes; do they want to shift costs to hospitals -- many of which already are facing closureopens in a new tab or window in rural areas -- or do they want to cut other vital services like public safety and education?

These are the choices Musk and President Trump are foisting on state lawmakers, including local Republicans. The healthcare community needs to make that clear through one-on-one meetings, economic impact reports, and targeted lobbying efforts.

Healthcare practitioners and advocates must help Americans understand it is their insurance at risk. We need to help hospital administrators and practice owners understand it is their business model at risk. And we need to help state lawmakers understand it is their ability to balance budgets and care for their constituents at risk. These are the kind of targeted, audience-specific communications that will move policy discussions from abstract debates to real-world opposition to the proposed cuts.

As clinicians, we do not explain heart disease to a patient the same way we discuss it with a medical resident. We do not prescribe the same treatment for every patient. We know: one size never fits all. The same holds true for health policy communications. If we want people to care about Medicaid, we need to use terms they understand and show them how it impacts their lives. By shifting how we communicate, we will not just win policy debates -- we will empower people to fight for their own healthcare.

It is time we start meeting Americans where they are.

N. Adam Brown is a practicing emergency physician, entrepreneur, and healthcare executive. He is the founder of ABIG Health, a healthcare growth strategy firm, and a professor at the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/prescriptionsforabrokensystem/114542

CVS’s New Mini Stores Go All In on Medicine and Skip Everything Else

CVS Health is preparing to open a dozen stores offering full-service pharmacies but very limited retail, the latest example of a national drugstore chain responding to a long stretch of declining retail sales.

The new stores will be on average less than 5,000 square feet, or not even half the size of a typical CVS location, the company said. The 12 new stores are expected to open over the next year in cities and towns throughout the U.S.

These shrunken CVS stores will still stock health-related products such as over-the-counter cough and pain medications or first-aid care, a CVS spokeswoman said.

But missing from their aisles will be the vast array of consumer items, such as greeting cards, groceries and nail polish, that for decades have been staples at CVS and other national drugstore chains.

These chains have struggled in recent years to address both competition from discount retailers and a surge in theft. The challenges are leading to cost-cutting, widespread store closures and other dramatic changes at these companies.

CVS is undergoing a significant downsizing of its footprint. The chain, which announced plans in 2021 to reduce its store density, plans to close 270 locations in 2025 after 800 net closures over the prior three years.

A spokeswoman said CVS is making closure decisions based on a number of factors, including population shifts and consumer buying patterns.

Walgreens Boots Alliance also is closing locations and this week reached a deal with an equity value of about $10 billion with investment firm Sycamore Partners, which is taking the chain private in one of the largest leveraged buyouts in 10 years. Rite Aid, meanwhile, emerged from Chapter 11 last fall as a private company and has closed hundreds of stores since the start of the pandemic.

Julie Utterback, senior equity analyst for Morningstar, said CVS’s new store format is surprising, given the company’s broader downsizing plans. Focusing its real-estate usage on prescriptions makes sense, however, since more than 80% of sales last year came from the pharmacy department.

“That is where most of the value is generated,” Utterback said. “The front of their store operations has been in question for a while.”

CVS and other drugstore chains for years built their business around convenience. Customers walking through the store to pick up their prescriptions would buy shampoo or pretzels—often at a large markup—on their way to the cash register.

And through acquisitions and aggressive real-estate expansion, drugstore chains became ubiquitous across American streets and shopping centers.

But pharmacies have been losing market share for years to online and discount competitors that offer the same products at lower prices, in many cases delivered to customers’ doorsteps. The spread of beauty stores such as Sephora further siphoned customers from drugstore aisles.

Retail theft has further cut into margins by forcing stores to hire more security staff and lock up large quantities of items, measures that have inconvenienced and annoyed many customers.

CVS is in the very early stages of rolling out its new small stores, and plans to have the first few locations operating by the end of the year, the spokeswoman said.

The company is focusing on areas where residents already may be buying their household items from Walmart or dollar stores but don’t have a place nearby to fill their prescriptions and get immunizations.

“This work is really focused on introducing or adding pharmacy access in communities that are lacking,” said Amy Thibault, spokeswoman for CVS.

The chain is also opening about 30 of its traditional stores this year, including new pharmacies within discount chain Target.

“We have a lot of different footprints, and this is just one more to add,” Thibault said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/cvs-s-new-mini-stores-go-all-in-on-medicine-and-skip-everything-else/ar-AA1AvqCQ

Lilly's baricitinib Delivered High Rates of Hair Regrowth for Adolescents with Severe Alopecia

Late-breaking results presented at AAD show 80% or more scalp hair coverage at Week 36 in 42.4% of adolescents receiving baricitinib 4 mg

Patients treated with baricitinib 4 mg saw significant regrowth of eyebrows and eyelashes at Week 36 compared to placebo

Positive data underscore Lilly's continued expansion across dermatologic conditions, with treatments that can improve outcomes for patients with the greatest need

https://investor.lilly.com/news-releases/news-release-details/lillys-baricitinib-delivered-high-rates-hair-regrowth

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Sanofi Presents Positive Results from the Pivotal ADEPT Phase 2/3 trial

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Sanofi presented positive results from the pivotal ADEPT Phase 2/3 trial evaluating the investigational use of Dupixent (dupilumab) in adults with moderate-to-severe bullous pemphigoid (BP).

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/REGENERON-PHARMACEUTICALS-10649/news/Regeneron-Pharmaceuticals-Inc-and-Sanofi-Presents-Positive-Results-from-the-Pivotal-ADEPT-Phase-2-49279744/

People with type A blood 16% more likely to have a stroke before age 60

Not to B-negative, but your blood type could offer a clue to your risk of having a stroke before 60.

Researchers at the University of Maryland (UMD) found that people with type A blood are more likely to experience an early-onset ischemic stroke — caused by a blockage of blood flow to the brain — while those with blood type O have a lower risk.

“The number of people with early strokes is rising,” said Dr. Steven J. Kittner, co-principal investigator of the study and neurologist with the UMD Medical Center. “These people are more likely to die from the life-threatening event, and survivors potentially face decades with disability. Despite this, there is little research on the causes of early strokes.”

In a 2022 analysis, Kittner and his colleagues sifted through data from 48 genetic studies, involving 17,000 stroke patients and nearly 600,000 healthy individuals who had never suffered a stroke. All participants were between 18 and 59 years old.

After reviewing their genetic profiles, researchers discovered a potential link between early strokes and the part of the chromosome that contains the gene determining whether your blood type is A, AB, B or O.

“The association of blood type with later-onset stroke was much weaker than what we found with early stroke,” said Dr. Braxton D. Mitchell, principal investigator and professor of medicine at UMD.

After adjusting for sex and other factors, the team found that people with blood type O — the most common blood type — had a 12% lower risk of suffering a stroke compared to other blood types.

Meanwhile, those with type A blood, which accounts for about 36% of Americans, had a 16% higher risk of suffering an early stroke.

But before you rush to make a doctors appointment, researchers stressed that those with blood type A shouldn’t panic or jump into unnecessary medical testing based on the findings.

“We still don’t know why blood type A would confer a higher risk, but it likely has something to do with blood-clotting factors like platelets and cells that line the blood vessels as well as other circulating proteins, all of which play a role in the development of blood clots,” Kittner explained.

Blood clots are a leading cause of ischemic strokes, as they block blood flow to the brain. Previous studies suggest that people with blood type A may be more prone to developing clots in the legs, a condition known as deep vein thrombosis.

“We clearly need more follow-up studies to clarify the mechanisms of increased stroke risk,” Kittner said.

Researchers also noted that their study had some limitations, including lack of diversity among participants.

While strokes are more common in adults aged 65 and older, the number of cases among younger adults is on the rise globally.

In the US, the rate of ischemic stroke among adults aged 20 to 44 surged from 17 per 100,000 adults in 1993 to 28 per 100,000 in 2015. The risk of stroke death among young adults is also on the rise.

For survivors, the physical toll can be severe, often leading to lasting cognitive deficits, vision impairment, coordination problems, weakness and paralysis. The mental impact is also heavy, as many stroke survivors also battle depression and anxiety.

Traditional stroke risk factors include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking and alcohol consumption. Obesity, an unhealthy diet, and a lack of exercise can also increase your chances.

“This study raises an important question that requires a deeper investigation into how our genetically predetermined blood type may play a role in early stroke risk,” said Dr. Mark T. Gladwin, executive vice president for medical affairs at UMD Baltimore. “It points to the urgent need to find new ways to prevent these potentially devastating events in younger adults.”

https://nypost.com/2025/03/08/health/this-blood-type-increases-early-stroke-risk-by-16/

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Saturday, March 8, 2025