Ozempic row: Delhi HC seeks government reply over delay in off-label drug misuse probe

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought responses from the government, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation and others on a contempt petition alleging that authorities have yet to decide on examining reports of misuse of diabetes drugs such as Ozempic for weight loss, as earlier directed by the court.Also Read: Zydus partners with Lupin to co-market generic semaglutide in India

Justice Sachin Datta also issued a notice to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) and gave it four weeks' time to reply to the contempt petition by Jitendra Chouksey, the chief executive officer of Pune-based healthtech startup Fittr. Chouksey has asked the court to initiate contempt proceedings against CDSCO for non-compliance of the court's earlier directions to assess concerns over the off-label use of certain diabetes medications like Ozempic for weight loss.

The matter will be taken up for further hearing on May 21.