WEDNESDAY, July 1, 2026 (NewsDay News) — The effects of a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) have increased since the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved it in 2021, according to a study published in the April 2026 issue. Journal of Medical Toxicology.
Jordan Miller, of UT San Antonio in Texas, and colleagues analyzed the effects of GLP-1 RA in humans that were reported to the National Toxicology Information System from 2012 to 2023, before and after US FDA approval for weight loss (July 1, 2021).
Data were included for 10,033 exposures: 3,113 pre-validation and 6,920 post-validation. After approval, semaglutide was dominant (64.2 percent). The researchers found that among the exposed population, there was a shift toward younger and more females. Most of the reported cases were medical errors with mild gastrointestinal symptoms. The increase in the proportion of those managed or referred to a medical facility increased from 23.0 to 33.5 percent (hazard ratio, 1.46). A significant change in call volume was demonstrated, with a 9.9 percent increase in semaglutide exposures per quarter after approval.
“It’s a completely different story when GLP-1(RA) drugs are sold to diabetes patients and when the drug is used for weight management,” co-author David Hahn, Ph.D., also of UT San Antonio, said in a statement. “That’s why we had to calculate these facts to show that it was approved by the FDA and how to prevent the risk. We need to educate the public better, because how this drug behaves in our body and its long-term safety is not yet fully understood.”
