WHO issues global alert on rare vision loss linked to popular diabetes, weight loss drugs
Geneva: The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a global safety alert warning of a rare but potentially irreversible vision condition associated with popular diabetes and weight-loss drugs containing semaglutide, including Ozempic, Rybelsus, and Wegovy.
The alert, released on 27 June, highlights the risk of non-arteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy (NAION), a condition that can lead to sudden, painless, and irreversible loss of vision, typically in one eye.
“There is currently no effective treatment available for NAION, and the vision loss is generally irreversible,” the WHO stated in its warning.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has already acted on this risk by updating the safety profiles of these drugs. Following a comprehensive safety review, the agency’s Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) recommended that NAION be listed as a “very rare” side effect, potentially affecting up to 1 in 10,000 users.
Semaglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist, has seen widespread use globally for treating type 2 diabetes and obesity. However, the growing popularity of these drugs has also brought new safety concerns to light.
NAION is considered the second most common optic neuropathy after glaucoma and can present without pain, making early detection more challenging. Common symptoms include sudden vision loss and optic disc swelling.
The WHO noted that its global adverse event database, VigiBase, had received several individual case safety reports of NAION linked to semaglutide use from multiple countries. After assessing these reports during its May 2025 meeting, the WHO Advisory Committee on Safety of Medicinal Products (ACSoMP) recommended revising semaglutide’s risk management plans.
Healthcare professionals worldwide are now being urged to inform patients about this potential risk and to remain vigilant. Patients currently using semaglutide or considering it are advised to seek immediate medical help if they experience any sudden changes in vision.
The alert is part of continued pharmacovigilance efforts around GLP-1-based medications, which have transformed diabetes and obesity care but continue to face evolving scrutiny as their use expands.
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Kamala Harris claims she 'had a certain responsibility' to argue against Biden running again
Washington: Former US Vice President Kamala Harris said on Monday evening that she regrets not expressing her concerns about then-President Joe Biden running for a second term when a majority of Americans felt he was too old for the job.
"I have and had a certain responsibility that I should have followed through on," Harris told Rachel Maddow on MSNBC in her first live television interview since the election.
Such a conversation, even if it happened privately and behind the scenes, would have been an extraordinary breach in a relationship between a president and vice president.
Harris' comments expand on a passage in her book, "107 Days," that looks back on her experience replacing Biden as the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee after he dropped out of the race. Harris ultimately lost to Republican candidate Donald Trump.
In the book, Harris wrote that everyone in the White House would say “it's Joe and Jill's decision” about running for reelection, referring to the president and first lady. “Was it grace, or was it recklessness? In retrospect, I think it was recklessness,” she wrote.
“The stakes were simply too high. This wasn’t a choice that should have been left to an individual’s ego, an individual’s ambition. It should have been more than a personal decision.”
In her interview with Maddow, Harris said, "when I talk about the recklessness, as much as anything, I'm talking about myself.”
Harris said in the interview she was concerned that “it would come off as completely self-serving” if she had counseled Biden not to seek reelection. She had competed against him for their party's 2020 nomination, and she was well positioned to run again.
A representative for Biden declined comment.
