I watched my wife die the most appalling death while on Ozempic only for police to point the finger at me…

WARNING: DISTURBING CONTENT 

It’s the sort of horrible, undignified death usually only seen in retirement homes.

But Roy Webster saw it happen to his 56-year-old wife Trish. He was sleeping next to her in bed on the night of January 16, 2023, when he woke to the violent sound of her choking on the contents of her bowels, which had been forced up into her lungs.

Roy remembers frantically trying to save his wife while on the phone to emergency services – but nothing could be done to save her. 

‘She had this brown stuff coming out of her mouth and I realised she wasn’t breathing,’ he recalls.

Roy knew how to perform CPR, but his wife’s head kept ‘bouncing everywhere’ on the bed so he had no choice but to drag her to the floor.

‘When I pulled her off the bed, her head turned to the side and all this brown stuff was coming out of her nose. It poured out.

‘I thought she was choking on a drink or something, but we found out it was her bowels coming out through her lungs.’

He continued doing compressions ‘but her chest was like sponges’. She was getting no oxygen to the brain and was declared dead when paramedics arrived.

Roy, who now lives with post-traumatic stress disorder, believes that Ozempic – the ‘miracle’ weight-loss drug Trish had started taking seven months earlier – and its sister drug Saxenda contributed to his wife’s death. 

Trish Webster (pictured before and after using Ozempic) became seriously ill while taking the prescription drug. Her husband Roy now looks at photos of her during her Ozempic usage and believes ‘you can see her getting sicker’

Trish was first prescribed Ozempic, a diabetes drug with the appealing side effect of weight loss, by a doctor in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, in May 2022.

She had been self-conscious about her body for a long time and wanted to lose weight before her daughter’s wedding. She had heard glowing reviews of Ozempic, and saw the drug as a way to get her life back.

Trish’s doctor apparently had no qualms about writing her a script for the injections.

She would end up losing 16kg (35lbs or 2.5st) in five months but became increasingly ill from suspected side effects. When she returned to the practice to report them, she was told the consistent vomiting, nausea and diarrhoea were ‘normal’.

Roy believes the doctor’s dismissal of his wife’s side effects when she first reported them was what ultimately cost Trish her life.

‘Doctors shouldn’t be prescribing you something that makes you sick,’ he tells me. 

‘You don’t go to the doctor to get sick.’

Trish started feeling nauseous within days of her first Ozempic injection.

‘She lost a bit of weight on it but she kept getting sick all the time,’ Roy says.

‘It was nearly every second month she was getting sick – diarrhoea and throwing up all the time.’

Trish would use Ozempic and Saxenda interchangeably, but never at the same time, on the recommendation of a doctor.

Roy claims both medications would cause Trish stomach problems. 

Trish died on January 16, 2023, after choking on the contents of her bowels. Police became involved in Trish’s death because faecal vomiting at her age is uncommon, leading to suspicions she had been poisoned. Her husband Roy was under investigation as soon as officers arrived at the scene, but was later cleared. ‘[The police] had no empathy,’ Roy says

Rather than taking her off the medication, Trish’s doctor prescribed her Ondansetron, a drug typically prescribed to cancer patients suffering nausea from chemotherapy, to cope with her symptoms.

‘She kept going back to the doctor saying she’s really sick and he kept prescribing eight milligrams of Ondansetron,’ Roy says.

‘He didn’t connect the dots that it could be Ozempic that was making her sick.’

Trish’s symptoms would typically worsen for two days before she would ‘come good’.

‘That’s what the normal pattern was,’ Roy explains. 

‘Now, looking through photos over the time she was on Ozempic, you can see her getting sicker.

‘I didn’t see it because I saw her every day. I didn’t pick up on it.’

Police became involved from the day Trish died because faecal vomiting in her age group is uncommon, leading some officers to suspect she had been poisoned.

Roy suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder from the night he desperately tried to save his wife’s life, only to be interrogated by police after her death (pictured: Trish’s casket)

Roy says he was under investigation as soon as officers arrived at the scene.

‘The police weren’t very nice about it at all. They had no empathy,’ he tells me.

‘There were inside taking photos of Trish’s body, turning it over and all that.’ 

After being cleared by police, Roy began the difficult process of grieving the love of his life without definite answers as to what killed her.

‘She was my rock, you know. She was my life partner and she’s done everything for me,’ he says.

‘I know she’s gone and I can’t bring her back but there’s people now still thinking about using this stuff who don’t know the hazards of it.

‘It’s not worth it. It’s not worth the risk.’

Roy wants to see Ozempic, and similar drugs, removed from the Australian market or, at the very least, he wants to see stricter monitoring of patients.

‘I want to help but I’ve been slacking off a bit because every time I think about it, it reminds me of the night Trish died,’ he says.

‘I’ve had to live like that for a long time. I just see it over and over.’ 

The only time Roy heard from Trish’s prescribing doctor was when her autopsy results were delivered.

Roy describes Trish as the love of his life. ‘She was my rock, you know… my life partner,’ he says

The coroner found Trish had choked to death when faeces entered her lungs and attributed several other health factors to her passing.

‘They said she had high blood pressure, hypertension and sleep apnoea,’ Roy says.

‘I said, “Mate, I’ve got high blood pressure and sleep apnoea but I’m not dead”. That’s got nothing to do with it.’

The only explanation Roy has been given for how the contents of Trish’s bowels entered her lungs is ‘gastrointestinal issues’.

When he asked for there to be a proper investigation into the cause of her stomach problems – which he believes were the result of taking Ozempic – Roy was told by someone at the coroner’s department to seek mental health help.

‘People don’t just die of a stomach bug,’ he says.

‘When the doctor told me about the pathology, all they said to me was that her potassium levels were down because she was dehydrated.

‘Of course she was dehydrated, she was throwing up all day. I got thrown around from here to there and told to see the counsellor.

‘I don’t want to see a counsellor; I want to see results.’

Without the ability to bring back his own loved one, Roy has pleaded with those considering Ozempic to avoid it and similar drugs.

And as for those who doubt whether Ozempic was the true cause of Trish’s death, Roy poses the question: ‘Would she still be here today if she wasn’t taking this drug?

‘Yes, she definitely would be here today… She would be here today if she wasn’t taking that stuff because she wouldn’t have been sick.

‘She wouldn’t have been sick on that day and she wouldn’t have been throwing up. She would not have choked on [the contents of] her bowels like that.

‘That’s why I say it’s responsible for how she died.’

When he asked for there to be a proper investigation into the cause of his wife’s stomach problems – which he believes were the result of Ozempic – Roy (pictured with Trish on their wedding day) was told by someone at the coroner’s department to seek mental health help

The coroner disagrees. Trish’ death certificate states the cause of death was ‘acute gastrointestinal illness’, with no mention of drug side effects.

The Coroners Court of NSW told Daily Mail Australia it concluded its investigation into Trish’s death on January 20, 2023, and there were no plans to reopen her case.

Dr Jessica Pace, from the University of Sydney, while unable to comment directly on Trish’s case, notes Ozempic is known to cause stomach issues. 

‘It does have some gastrointestinal side effects. In particular, you tend to see nausea and vomiting, especially when people first start treatment,’ she says.

‘People can get some things like diarrhoea, constipation, heartburn, potentially some abdominal pain, and perhaps some pancreatic or liver issues.

‘The pancreatic and liver issues are much rarer side effects.’

Dr Pace also explains Ozempic partially works by slowing how quickly food is moved through the bowels, which has the potential to cause blockages.

‘Ozempic mimics a naturally occurring hormone that we have in our body. Those hormones are called incretins,’ she says.

‘When we eat, those hormones have effects such as controlling how much insulin is created to help manage our blood sugar levels.

‘It also helps with gastric emptying, so it can decrease appetite as well.’

When contacted for comment, a Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) spokesperson said it is ‘currently working with Novo Nordisk (the creator of Ozempic and Saxenda) to include safety-related updates in the product information documents for semaglutide products, including Ozempic’.

‘The TGA monitors the safety of medicines, medical devices and other therapeutic products in Australia, and takes action to address confirmed safety issues,’ they said.

‘The TGA applies scientific and clinical expertise to its decision-making to ensure that the benefits of a product, when used for the approved indications and in the intended population, outweigh any risks.’

A Novo Nordisk spokesperson similarly defended the product.

‘At Novo Nordisk, patient safety is a top priority, and we take all reports about adverse events from the use of our medicines very seriously,’ they said.

‘We work closely with the TGA and other regulatory bodies around the world to continuously monitor the safety profile of our medicines.

‘Novo Nordisk stands behind the safety and efficacy of Ozempic, Saxenda and all of our medicines when used consistent with the product labelling and the approved indications.’

Without the ability to bring back his own loved one, Roy has pleaded with those considering Ozempic to avoid it and similar drugs. (Trish and her daughter are pictured)

For anyone considering using Ozempic or Saxenda, Dr Pace recommends closely monitoring your body’s reaction.

‘Any unusual or new stomach pain, or stomach symptoms, is potentially a side effect,’ she tells me.

‘It would be worth having some blood tests as well. 

‘That wouldn’t necessarily be for the gastrointestinal effects, but it can affect kidney function so that could show up on a blood test.

‘Other potential side effects are things like injection site reactions, so you’d be looking out for any changes at the injection site, like any redness, bruising, lumps.’

Have you experienced a side effect to a weight-loss drug? Email tips@dailymail.com