Wegovy was shown to slash the risk of cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks and strokes, by up to 20 percent in a clinical trial by Novo Nordisk, the pharmaceutical giant behind the so-called “miracle” weight loss drug. The trial followed more than 17,600 obese or overweight adults aged 45 and older for up to five years as they were given weekly injections of Wegovy or a placebo. The results, shared by the company in a news release on Tuesday, have not yet been peer reviewed or published in a scientific journal. It comes amid a recent flurry of reporting on the drug’s unexpected and unpleasant side effects, and just days after a Louisiana woman sued Novo Nordisk and rival drugmaker Eli Lilly, alleging that her usage of similar drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro caused her “severe gastrointestinal events.” Ozempic, also manufactured by Novo Nordisk, is a diabetes drug and is not federally approved to treat obesity (while Wegovy was cleared in 2021). Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro is expected to be cleared for obesity in the coming months.
