Four patients who developed serious eye disease after using Novo Nordisk weight loss drugs have received compensation in Denmark, the drugmaker’s home country.
Applicants received a total of 800,000 kroner (about R$665,000 at current exchange rates), although this amount may increase if there is evidence of additional loss of income, according to Danish Patients’ Compensation, an independent association funded by the Danish state and insurance companies.
The agency said it has so far received 43 claims from patients who believe they have developed the condition known as NAION (non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy) after taking Wegovy or Ozempic.
The Commission ruled in five cases, awarded compensation in four and rejected one. It stated that eligibility depends on individual evaluations, and that not all cases automatically qualify for compensation.
NAION occurs when loss of blood flow damages the optic nerve, and is most common in people over 50 years of age. Although rare, the eye condition is irreversible, incurable, and may cause blindness. Doctors say patients should be informed of the potential risks.
“It is unfortunate for the patients affected by this side effect,” Karen Inger Bast, the association’s executive director, said in a statement. “NAION is a serious disease that causes permanent and irreversible damage to vision.”
Novo has analyzed the decision and takes all reports of adverse events related to the use of its drugs “seriously,” a drugmaker spokesperson says via email. The laboratory has already updated the package contents for all of its products marketed with semaglutide to include NAION as a “very rare adverse reaction,” although it believes the “risk-benefit profile of semaglutide remains favorable.”
Earlier this year, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) safety committee concluded that NAION is a very rare side effect of semaglutide, the active ingredient in the two drugs used for diabetes and obesity.
This could affect up to 1 in 10,000 people taking these medications, the agency said, adding that product labels should be updated to reflect this risk.
The EMA’s review came after the Danish Medicines Agency asked it to examine two studies – conducted independently – that found that people with type 2 diabetes who took Ozempic had more than twice the risk of eye disease.
The relationship between semaglutide and NAION was first suggested in 2024 in a study conducted by Harvard University.
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