A Vietnam veteran and father of two was left fighting for his life after taking the successful weight-loss drug Ozempic.
Wilson “Bo” Muhlheim, 79, and a native of Eugene, Oregon, was prescribed the medication a year ago to help manage his type 2 diabetes.
But since then he has suffered twice from a bowel obstruction, where a mass prevents the movement of food through the intestine.
In severe cases, this can cause the intestine to rupture and release its contents into the body, causing a fatal condition.
Doctors treated the condition by pumping his stomach, which he described as the “most disgusting experience” of his life, relieving pressure on his intestines, allowing them to expand and clear the blockage. He was then allowed to go home, but was told he would have to be on a liquid diet for several days.
Despite the complications, the father said doctors suggested increasing the dose.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says Ozempic can cause ileus, when the intestines become blocked. In rare cases, this can be fatal if the contents contaminate the body, causing a condition such as sepsis.
Reports to the FDA’s FAERS system have linked 51 fatalities to weight-loss drugs popularized by celebrities. The reports, which have not been verified, were filed for users of Ozempic, Wegovy and other medications taking semaglutide – the active ingredient in the slimming shots.
Wilson “Bo” Muhlheim, 79, is pictured above with his wife Nancy, also 79. The couple from Eugene, Oregon, rushed to the hospital twice after Mr. Muhlheim suffered a blockage in his intestine. He says there is no explanation other than Ozempic, which he started about a year ago
Ozempic, given via weekly injections, works by mimicking a hormone that makes a person feel full, causing him or her to eat less food.
It also slows the speed at which food moves through the stomach and intestines, causing a person to consume even less food.
Data from Novo Nordisk, the Danish company that makes Ozempic, shows that U.S. providers wrote about 60,000 new weekly prescriptions for the drug in April.
Two deaths from ileus were recorded before it was added to the Ozempic warning label.
Mr Muhlheim, who considers himself lucky to have survived, told DailyMail.com: ‘The amount of weight you could lose if you take this drug is insignificant compared to the risks.
‘People have to be very careful. This drug is not for anything like weight loss.
‘It scares me to death to think that, on my doctor’s advice, I may have started taking a double dose of the drug.
“That would have killed me.”
Mr. Muhlheim initially weighed 265 pounds and was prescribed Ozempic a year ago to control his blood sugar and diabetes.
He lost 14 pounds during the first six months, but then realized he was suffering from a complication.
He told DailyMail.com that he experienced few side effects after starting Ozempic, but became concerned after his stomach became swollen and extremely painful.
He waited a day and a half before seeking medical attention, after which doctors rushed him to the hospital.
They said that if he had not come to see them within a few hours, his intestine would probably have burst.
Doctors treated it by pumping all fluids, gases and contents out of his stomach and then prescribing a liquid diet for a few days.
They said he “dodged a bullet” and came to see them “just in time.”
At no point did doctors blame Ozempic for the problem.
Instead, they suggested it may have been due to a twist in his colon, which can cause partial blockages and has been there for at least five years.
However, six months later he suffered from the blockage again.
Doctors examined scans from both cases, which showed that the blockage was not near where the twist in his intestines was located.
He contacted his daughter-in-law, who knew a gastroenterologist, who immediately advised him to stop taking Ozempic.
Mr. Muhlheim said he received his last dose about two weeks ago, but would never consider taking the drug again.
Doctors examined Mr Muhlheim’s scans from both cases, which showed the blockage was not near where the twist in his intestines was (Photo: Stock of Ozempic)
He added: ‘We all assumed it was related to the twist in my abdomen, without even looking at other problems.
‘But now that they’ve gone back and looked at the imaging, the point of the blockage has no relation whatsoever to where I have that abnormality in my intestine. It is also almost identical to the previous case.
“This leads one to believe that it is the same thing that is causing it and that (Ozempic) is the only thing we can think of that is causing it.”
He said that after his stomach was pumped for the second time, he was put on a liquid diet for several days and told to add solid food only slowly.
His condition has now improved and he can have toast. He hopes to be able to eat normally again in the coming weeks.
About 20 cases of similar incidents have been reported to the FDA monitoring system to date.
But it is likely that many are not registered because reporting side effects is not a requirement.
Ileus – the medical term for a blocked intestine – is listed as an official side effect on the warning labels of Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro.
It occurs when the stomach takes too long to empty food, causing the contents to harden into a solid mass.
The blockage can cut off the blood supply to the intestines and cause parts of the organ to die and rot, which can lead to infections or internal bleeding that can be fatal.
But fatal side effects of the weight-loss drugs appear to be extremely rare.
Fifty-one fatalities involving Ozempic, Mounjaro, and medications containing semaglutide have been reported to the FDA since 2018.
The youngest case was a 38-year-old woman who used the drug to lose weight and the oldest patient was an 85-year-old diabetic, but in most cases the age was not specified.
The deaths were reported to the FDA’s FAERS system, which is used to monitor serious side effects of drugs in the US, but the reports are unverified and can be recorded by anyone, including consumers, with little investigation.
The FDA claims that the reports do not prove that the deaths were directly caused by the drug, but that they reflect “the observations and opinions” of those reporting them.
But all medications carry some risk of side effects.
Trish Webster, 56, from Australia made headlines earlier last week when she died of a blocked intestine while taking Ozempic to lose weight for her daughter’s wedding.
Doctors recorded her cause of death as ‘acute gastrointestinal illness’, noting that Ozempic causes fatal intestinal blockages.
Even if all 51 U.S. deaths were directly caused by the drugs, which the FDA says is unlikely, that’s a small number compared to those taking them.
Of the 51 US deaths, 25 involved Ozempic, 18 were linked to Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro and seven involved the lesser-known Rybelsus. One was simply listed as semaglutide.
The database, which is about a month behind, shows that the first death occurred on August 1, 2018, and the most recent fatality was recorded last month, on October 5.
By comparison, about 16,000 deaths per year in the US are attributed to NSAIDs – nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs used to treat pain and inflammation.
Seventeen of the weight loss deaths in the US were recorded by doctors and nurses, and 34 by consumers.
All but one of the deaths were submitted to the FDA by Novo Nordisk or Eli Lilly.
Reporting rules mean that drug manufacturers are legally required to send all adverse event reports from a patient or healthcare provider to the FDA.
An FDA spokesperson told DailyMail.com: ‘Although the FDA relies on the FAERS database as a tool for drug safety monitoring after a product has been approved and marketed, submitting a report does not mean that the information contained therein has been medically confirmed.
‘…the event may be related to the underlying disease being treated, or caused by concomitant use of another drug, or may have occurred for other reasons.
‘Duplicate reporting and increased awareness of an event with a particular product may increase the reported occurrence of an adverse event.’
It added that the agency monitors the FAERS database “on a weekly basis” to “inform whether regulatory actions, such as labeling changes or other FDA communications, are necessary.”
A spokesperson for Novo Nordisk said: ‘Patient safety is a top priority for Novo Nordisk.
‘We take all reports of side effects resulting from the use of our medicines very seriously. However, we do not comment on individual patient cases.’
The spokesperson added: ‘Novo Nordisk works closely with the US Food and Drug Administration to continuously monitor the safety profile of our medicines.
‘We support the safety and efficacy of Ozempic when used as directed.’