Journal of medical toxicology : official journal of the American College of Medical ToxicologyMar 5, 2026

Reported exposures to diabetes drugs in children and adults in US poison centers, 2017-2024

GLP-1 Therapies Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗OA ↗

Updated Mar 6, 2026

Abstract

A total of 13,924 single-substance GLP-1 exposures were reported to US poison centers from 2017 to 2024.

The rate of GLP-1 exposures per one million US population increased by 1,830.8% from 0.97 in 2017 to 18.79 in 2024.
Among children aged 6-17 years, the rate of exposures rose by 4,805.0% from 0.04 in 2017 to 1.97 in 2024.
Most GLP-1 exposures (91.7%) were associated with no or mild effects; moderate effects occurred in 8.0% of cases.
Children aged 6-17 years were more likely to be admitted to medical facilities than adults, with a relative risk of 2.66.
Vomiting was reported more frequently in children with clinical effects (88.2%) compared to adults (61.3%), with a relative risk of 1.44.
Exposures among children were more likely to be due to intentional misuse, with a relative risk of 8.12 compared to adults.

Simplified

INTRODUCTION: As glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1) use has increased among children, a better understanding of the related adverse effects in this population is needed.

METHODS: National Poison Data System data from 2017 to 2024 were analyzed to compare characteristics and trends of exposures involving GLP-1s reported to United States (US) poison centers (PCs) among children 6-17 years old with those of adults.

RESULTS: There were 13,924 single-substance GLP-1 exposures reported to US PCs from 2017 to 2024. The rate of exposures per one million US population increased by 1,830.8% from 0.97 in 2017 to 18.79 in 2024, including a 4,805.0% increase among children 6-17 years old from 0.04 in 2017 to 1.97 in 2024, with the majority of the increase occurring after 2021. Most exposures (91.7%) were associated with no or mild effects, while moderate effects were observed in 8.0% and major effects occurred in 42 exposures; there were two deaths. Children 6-17 years old were more likely (RR: 2.66, 95% CI: 1.73-4.11) to be admitted than adults, and children 12-17 years old were more likely (RR: 1.68, 95% CI: 1.08-2.63) to experience a more serious medical outcome than adults. Children 6-17 years old with at least one clinical effect experienced vomiting (88.2%) more commonly than adults (61.3%) (RR: 1.44, 95% CI: 1.34-1.55). Additionally, exposures among children 6-17 years old were more likely to be attributable to intentional misuse (RR: 8.12, 95% CI: 6.47-10.17) than among adults.

CONCLUSIONS: This study provides national-level, real-world findings that may help inform clinical practice.

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Declarations. Conflict interests: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Reported exposures to diabetes drugs in children and adults in US poison centers, 2017-2024

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