Pause and check · bring concerns into the visit
What needs a pause?
Bring concerns into the visit, even if you are unsure how to describe them. Ask the health professional assessing you what matters for your own care.
The strongest label notice
Read the strongest label notice
Wegovy and Ozempic are brand names for medicines containing semaglutide.
A boxed warning is the FDA’s strongest kind of notice on a drug label.
As of 26 September 2026, semaglutide’s label warned about thyroid tumors, meaning growths.
The label describes possible signs: a neck lump, trouble swallowing or breathing, or a hoarse voice that lasts.
The tumors occurred in rats and mice.
It remains unknown whether semaglutide also causes these tumors in people.
Source Semaglutide (Wegovy) thyroid notice Semaglutide (Ozempic) injection label
The labels rule out semaglutide for people who have had a rare cancer called medullary thyroid cancer.
A family history of that same cancer also rules it out.
MEN 2 also rules the medicine out under the label; this rare condition can pass from parent to child.
The medicine is also ruled out after a serious allergic reaction to any of its ingredients, including semaglutide.
When a relative’s cancer is all you remember, ask the clinician to check the record and identify its exact name.
Stomach and other concerns
Ask what to watch for
The Wegovy label lists nausea, vomiting, loose stools and constipation.
Nausea means feeling sick to the stomach.
Constipation means trouble passing stool.
Bad vomiting or loose stools can cause fluid loss and harm the kidneys.
The label does not recommend Wegovy for severe gastroparesis, when the stomach empties very slowly.
The label flags lasting or severe belly pain, which may reach the back.
This can signal serious swelling called pancreatitis.
Ask for that answer in writing before leaving the visit. Put it somewhere you can find it when you feel unwell.
Plans worth mentioning early
Raise pregnancy and surgery
The prescriber is the health professional who writes the prescription, an order for medicine.
For a planned pregnancy, the Wegovy label tells prescribers to end treatment two months or more ahead of time.
The gap is because semaglutide leaves the body slowly.
The label warns that weight loss while pregnant has no benefit and may harm the unborn baby.
The label asks people taking Wegovy to tell their care team about planned surgery.
This includes procedures with anesthesia, medicine that makes you unconscious.
It describes rare reports of stomach contents going into the lungs during these procedures.
The evidence does not show whether stopping the drug before surgery makes this less likely.
Ask the prescriber and the surgical team to explain how they will plan your care.
The offer itself
Look beyond a reassuring label
For a compounded medicine, the pharmacy or doctor prepares the product to order.
Compounded medicines lacked FDA approval on 26 September 2026.
The FDA did not check their safety, quality or effectiveness before sale.
As of 26 September 2026, the FDA had warned about semaglutide sold for people to use with a research label.
The agency said its quality was unknown and it could cause harm.
Errors in measuring compounded semaglutide may have caused harm described in reports received by the FDA.
Some reports involved hospital care.
Take unclear medicine instructions back to the prescriber or pharmacist. Ask them to go through the instructions with you.
When help cannot wait
Know where to take severe symptoms
With a severe allergic reaction, the tongue may swell or breathing may become difficult.
MedlinePlus tells people whose allergic symptoms are severe to get emergency help or attend the closest emergency room.