Swedish reports link rising semaglutide use to increased adverse reactions, including eye conditions

Sweden reports a surge in adverse reactions linked to semaglutide medicines amid rising prescriptions, prompting European safety reviews and concerns over rare eye issues.

Sweden is seeing a sharp rise in reported adverse reactions linked to semaglutide medicines, the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus, as their use continues to climb for both diabetes and weight loss. The Swedish Pharmaceutical Insurance said it received 33 side-effect reports involving semaglutide from January to August 2026, more than double the 13 cases logged in all of 2025. Data from Sweden’s National Board of Health and Welfare, shared with Euractiv, show that prescriptions collected for semaglutide products also rose over the same period, suggesting that greater use is likely feeding more reporting.

The increase comes against a backdrop of heightened scrutiny from European medicines regulators. In June 2025, the European Medicines Agency’s Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee concluded that non-arteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy, or NAION, is a very rare side effect of semaglutide medicines and recommended that product information be updated accordingly. The committee said the condition can affect up to one in 10,000 people and advised patients to seek medical help if they develop sudden vision loss or worsening eyesight.

Anders Hultman, chief executive of Swedish Pharmaceutical Insurance, told Euractiv that the insurer has received 92 reports involving semaglutide since 2020, including 47 cases involving eye-related problems. He said only one of those eye claims has so far resulted in compensation for NAION, while 29 have been rejected and 16 remain under review. Hultman added that the complaints vary widely in how they are described, ranging from patients saying they were “blind in one eye” to those reporting the need for stronger glasses or worsening vision, which makes it difficult to categorise them neatly.

Novo Nordisk says it takes all suspected adverse reaction reports seriously, but argues that the insurance claims alone cannot establish causation. In comments to Euractiv, Nils Ekström, senior manager for medical affairs at Novo Sweden, said a pooled analysis of the company’s randomised placebo-controlled trials covered more than 83,000 patient-years and found only a handful of ophthalmologist-confirmed NAION cases, with numbers similar in the placebo groups. He said Novo’s assessment remains that the available data do not support a causal link between semaglutide and NAION, and that the medicine’s benefit-risk profile is still considered favourable.

The Swedish figures also show that use of the drugs continues to expand. According to data cited by Euractiv from the Swedish Board of Health and Welfare, 260,677 people collected a semaglutide prescription in 2025, while 286,054 had done so between January and August 2026. The same insurer said it has received 11 claims tied to tirzepatide, sold as Mounjaro, with two involving eye injuries, while pharmacy collections of that medicine also increased markedly, from just over 95,140 in 2025 to 154,504 in the first eight months of 2026.