Poison control calls involving GLP-1 medications like semaglutide and tirzepatide have dramatically risen in recent years.
The growing popularity of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Zepbound is having some unfortunate consequences. Namely, that some people, including children, are overdosing on the medications.
This week, Indiana news outlet WTHR reported on the harrowing case of Jessa Milender, a then 7-year-old girl who experienced searing pain and constant vomiting after taking her mother’s GLP-1 injection. The girl ultimately recovered, though not without having to be repeatedly hospitalized. Similar reports of poisonings tied to GLP-1s have skyrocketed in the state and nationwide as of late.
“She couldn’t walk from exhaustion and severe pain,” Melissa Milender, Jessa’s mother, told WTHR. “She wouldn’t even allow them to touch her stomach. She’d scream out in pain in her sleep. It was awful.”A tragic mistake
GLP-1 drugs like semaglutide (Ozempic and Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Zepbound and Mounjaro) have changed obesity treatment for the better, allowing people to lose significantly more weight on average than they would with diet and exercise alone. But like any drug, GLP-1 medications have their side effects, which are typically gastrointestinal.
