A Danish man who lost much of his sight after taking the weight-loss drug Wegovy has been awarded 5 million kroner, the legal maximum for injuries caused by medicines. Several politicians now want the cap removed.
Anders Hansen has been awarded the sum after Patienterstatningen, the Danish Patient Compensation Association, accepted that Wegovy caused the loss of large parts of his vision. DR reports that 5 million kroner is the statutory ceiling for drug-related injuries.
Had a similar injury occurred during an eye operation, Hansen could have received around 10 million kroner. He calls the difference unfair, saying he feels just as affected as if surgery had gone wrong. He says he does not understand why patients are treated differently.
The ceiling was introduced in 1995, when patients gained the right to compensation for medicine injuries on a par with injuries from treatment. Kent Kristensen, associate professor of health law at Aalborg University, told DR that the limit was added because the state, not pharmaceutical companies, pays the compensation. According to Kristensen, lawmakers wanted to limit the state’s financial risk.
Kristensen says the gap is plainly unreasonable. In his account, the same injury carries a low ceiling if it stems from a medicine and a far higher one if it stems from treatment.
Suing the manufacturer
The cap was also set because patients can bring their own case against a manufacturer such as Novo Nordisk. Hansen says he stands no chance against the company as a single individual. Kristensen agrees, describing such a case as expensive and very hard to prove, and in reality not an option.
Hansen is now blind in the lower part of both eyes. He can no longer read subtitles on television, trips over curbs and breaks glasses he cannot see on the table. He also lost his job as a company director because of the sight loss.
He now works 16 hours at a local company, and his income has fallen from 2 million kroner to 240,000 kroner a year. Most of the award covers his lost earning capacity for the rest of his life. He says 5 million kroner is not a large sum when 85 percent of his earning capacity is gone.
Political reaction
Peder Hvelplund, health spokesperson for Enhedslisten, says the 5 million kroner limit should be removed so patients receive the same amount regardless of cause. He also wants the pharmaceutical industry to help fund compensation for medicine injuries.
Jens Henrik Thulesen Dahl, health spokesperson for Danmarksdemokraterne, calls the current rules unfair and says the same injury should bring the same compensation. Rasmus Lund-Nielsen of the governing Moderaterne party says his party is open to reviewing both the size of the ceiling and whether it should be indexed.
Health Minister Ida Auken of the Social Democrats declined to take part in DR’s report. No change to the ceiling has been proposed in parliament.
