Drug Safety Update

Semaglutide (Wegovy, Ozempic and Rybelsus): risk of Non-arteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy (NAION)

Issued 5 Feb 2026

Read and act on the official notice on GOV.UK

The MHRA's summary

Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), a condition that can cause sudden deterioration in vision, usually in one eye at a time, has been very rarely reported in association with semaglutide in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, weight management and cardiovascular risk reduction. Patients reporting a sudden loss of vision (including partial loss) while on semaglutide treatment should be urgently referred for ophthalmological examination.

MHRA's audience tags: Emergency medicine, Endocrinology diabetology metabolism, General practice, Nutrition dietetics, Ophthalmology, Pharmacy

Pharmshark is not an official alerting route. Make sure your pharmacy receives alerts directly from the MHRA and through your organisation, and always act on the official GOV.UK notice.

Source: the MHRA on GOV.UK. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Pharmshark is not affiliated with or endorsed by the MHRA.