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By TODAY, WRAL News
A Wendell woman’s experience with self-injected GLP-1 medication landed her in the hospital for three days and left her with a $9,000 medical bill
Leslie Gammon’s experience serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of improperly administered medication. She was featured on the TODAY Show on Thursday
Medical staff told Gammon that she had overdosed on a GLP-1 drug, although she said she followed dosing instructions provided by her telehealth company. Gammon began taking the medication in hopes of losing weight before going on a cruise
Early in the treatment, Gammon felt the eight-unit dose she was injecting once a week was ineffective because it did not curb her hunger. After she told the telehealth company, Amble, that the dosage was not working, she received a second her previous dose. A doctor with the company told her to follow the instructions
Gammon was wary of the large increase but ultimately injected herself with 30 units. Two hours later, she began vomiting. She first went to urgent care and was later taken to the emergency room
“I wouldn’t stop throwing up, and it was like every 20 minutes,” Gammon told NBC’s Anne Thompson. “I was hurting. I mean, it hurt. I couldn’t talk for nearly a week after. My ribs felt like they were being beaten up.”
Gammon said she has not used GLP-1 medication since the incident. She later received a $9,000 hospital bill and said she has not heard back from the telehealth company
A Gallup poll found that 11% of U.S. adults currently take GLP-1 medications specifically for weight loss. There’s also been a tremendous surge (more than 1,000% increase) in GLP-1 overdoses or side effects since 2021, according to the National Poison Data System from America’s Poison Centers
In Gammon’s case, she attributes the ordeal to the doctor’s error, but also to herself.
“I think the doctor — I think it was a mistake,” Gammon said. “They’re human. They make mistakes. But myself, too, as well. I should have educated myself more
“I’m not dumb. I mean, I have a college degree. I should have known.”
