FDA warns of rare eye disease risk in weight loss drugs

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ordered warning labels about the rare risk of vision loss to be added to all GLP-1 class drugs, including popular weight loss and diabetes medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound. Announced on November 9, the directive requires packaging to clearly state the potential increased risk of non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, or NAION, a condition where reduced blood flow damages the optic nerve and causes sudden blindness. However, the FDA termed it a potential risk rather than a proven fact.

Optic nerves send visual signals from the eye to the brain, and in NAION, blood supply to this nerve is severely reduced or cut off, with damage usually being permanent and having no certain medical cure. The FDA advised patients not to stop taking the medications on their own and directed doctors to be cautious. European drug regulators had already noted NAION as a very rare side effect of semaglutide in June 2025.

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