The European Medicines Agency issued a warning on Friday advising patients taking weight loss medications like Wegovy and Zepbound to inform their doctors before undergoing scheduled surgery.
The Agency’s Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) has recommended new measures to minimize the risk of respiratory complications during surgery for patients on GLP-1 treatments.
GLP-1 drugs, used for diabetes and weight loss, mimic a hormone that regulates blood sugar and suppresses appetite. Novo Nordisk, which produces Ozempic and Wegovy, and Eli Lilly, the manufacturer of Mounjaro and Zepbound, lead the market for these medications.
The committee emphasized that patients on GLP-1 drugs face a heightened risk of aspiration and aspiration pneumonia, conditions where food or liquids are accidentally inhaled into the lungs instead of being swallowed. These risks are further elevated during anesthesia and deep sedation, as stomach contents can travel back to the throat.
PRAC reported that aspiration and aspiration pneumonia occur in approximately one in 900 to one in 10,000 general anesthesia procedures.
GLP-1 medications delay the emptying of the stomach, meaning that even if patients fast the night before surgery, there could still be food in their stomachs during the operation. This significantly increases the risk of aspiration.
Although a definitive causal link between GLP-1 drugs and aspiration has not been established, the regulator advises healthcare professionals to consider the effects of these medications when combined with anesthesia.
The commission also plans to update the product information for these drugs to include a warning about this risk.
Morgan Stanley analysts predict the global market for these medications will reach $105 billion by 2030, up from an earlier forecast of $77 billion. The investment bank also expects the adoption of these drugs to reach around 31.5 million people in the U.S., representing roughly 9% of the population, by 2035.