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What’s happening: Websites that NewsGuard has previously found publishing health misinformation are inaccurately claiming that a study on GLP-1 weight-loss and diabetes drugs proves that the treatments increase risk of suicidal thoughts by 45 percent. In fact, the study was based on unvetted “adverse event” reports, and its authors acknowledge the data cannot be used to draw such conclusions.
Context: GLP-1 drugs, which stimulate the body’s production of insulin, have grown so popular that they are used by 12 percent of Americans, a November 2025 KFF Health Tracking Poll found. Commercials for the drugs have become ubiquitous on television. Some patients have used them for off-label purposes, such as treating addiction and substance use disorders.
A closer look: The study being cited this month to link the drugs to suicidal ideation was published in August 2024 in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA Network Open, a publication of the American Medical Association. The study stated that it aimed to “evaluate potential signals for suicidal and self-injurious adverse drug reactions” associated with semaglutide and liraglutide — known by the brand names Ozempic, Wegovy, and Saxenda.
Mercola[.]com, a website that NewsGuard has found to publish false health...
Welcome to Reality Check, NewsGuard’s nonpartisan newsletter that tracks the false claims and conspiracy theories that shape our world — and who’s behind them. Please support us by becoming a premi...