The EU accused Lilly (LLY.US) and Novo Nordisk (NVO.US) of having anesthetic-associated lung injury risks with their diabetes and weight-loss drugs.

Reuters reported that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said that patients who are about to undergo surgery and are taking diabetes and weight loss drugs from Novo Nordisk (NVOA) and Lilly (LLY) should be aware of the risk of anaesthesia-related complications. The EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) advised patients receiving GLP-1 medicines to inform their doctors before undergoing general anaesthesia or deep sedation, and said the product information would be updated accordingly. The agency said there was a “biologically plausible risk” of aspiration of gastric contents in patients taking the drugs during anaesthesia, although it had not found a “causal relationship”.

The EU asked four companies including Novo Nordisk and Lilly to provide more information about potential anaesthesia-related complications last year, and issued its latest guidance as a result. GLP-1 drugs include Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Ozempic, and Lilly’s Mounjaro. The American Society of Anesthesiologists also issued guidance in June 2023, advising patients to skip a dose before surgery.

The potential risk is that the drugs delay gastric emptying, even if patients are fasting before surgery, and can leave food in the stomach. Liquids in the stomach can enter the lungs and cause pneumonia.