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Reproduced with permission from Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) Medicines Safety Update 23 July 2026.
Summary
Product warnings across the glucagon-like-peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) class of medicines have been updated due to the potential for these products to cause a rare, but severe, form of eye disorder.
The GLP-1 RA class of prescription medicines are used primarily to manage type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity.
The eye disorder, non-arteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy (NAION), is a rare but serious condition that may result in permanent visual impairment, including blindness, and no treatment has been shown to improve visual acuity outcomes.
The GLP-1 RA class of medicines currently marketed in Australia are:
- dulaglutide - (Trulicity)
- semaglutide – (Ozempic and Wegovy)
- tirzepatide* – (Mounjaro)
- liraglutide – (Saxenda)
Dulaglutide (Trulicity) and semaglutide (Ozempic) are available on the PBS for diabetes mellitus type 2 (authority streamlined).
What health professionals should do
Be alert to the new class-wide warnings in the Product Information (PI) documents for GLP-1 RAs (see ‘Updates to the Product Information’ below).
Advise patients to stop using the medicine and to seek urgent medical attention if they experience sudden vision loss, including partial loss of vision.
The Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) leaflets for each product will be aligned with the updated PI documents and these should be provided to patients, if deemed clinically appropriate, as part of the counselling process.
Report any side effects to the TGA via the TGA website.
See the full article on the TGA website.
* Tirzepatide is a dual glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP)/GLP-1 RA.
