Politicians challenge compensation cap after Wegovy leaves man partially blind

Anders Hansen has received five million kroner in compensation after the Danish Patient Compensation authority found that he lost much of his sight because of the weight loss drug Wegovy, DR reports. But a legal cap means he could have received about twice as much if the same injury had resulted from an eye operation.

Under Danish law, five million kroner is the maximum compensation available for injuries caused by a medicine. The maximum for a similar injury caused by treatment, such as surgery, is about 10 million kroner.

“I find it difficult to see why there should be a difference,” Hansen said. “I feel just as affected as I would have been if an eye operation had gone wrong.”

The five million kroner cap was introduced in 1995, when patients gained the right to compensation for medicine related injuries on terms similar to those applying to treatment injuries. Because the state, rather than pharmaceutical companies, pays the compensation, the change included a limit to reduce the state’s financial risk, said Kent Kristensen, a health law lecturer at Aalborg University.

Kristensen said the difference between the two compensation systems was apparently unreasonable. In the past 10 years, 10 patients have received the maximum five million kroner for medicine related injuries, including injuries following chemotherapy, vaccinations and growth stimulating medication. The cap has not been adjusted since 1995.

Patients can theoretically sue a pharmaceutical company such as Novo Nordisk for additional compensation. But Hansen said he would have no chance of taking on the company alone. Kristensen agreed, saying such a case would be expensive and difficult to prove and was not a realistic option in practice.

Hansen has lost vision in the lower parts of both eyes. He can no longer read television subtitles, trips over kerbs and breaks glasses because he cannot see objects in the lower part of his field of vision.

He also lost his job as a managing director because of his sight loss. He now works 16 hours a week at a local company, and his annual income has fallen from two million kroner to 240,000 kroner.

Most of his compensation covers his loss of earning capacity for the rest of his life. Hansen has lost 85 percent of that capacity, but said five million kroner did not feel like a lottery win because he had lost both his sight and much of his income.

According to the Danish Patient Compensation authority, 88 people in Denmark have sought compensation for some degree of blindness linked to Wegovy. Twenty seven have been awarded compensation totalling more than 10 million kroner.

Several politicians now want the cap removed or changed. Peder Hvelplund, health spokesperson for the Red Green Alliance, said patients should receive the same compensation for the same injury, regardless of whether it was caused by surgery or medicine. He also said the pharmaceutical industry should contribute to the cost.

Jens Henrik Thulesen Dahl, health spokesperson for the Denmark Democrats, also called the current rules unfair. Rasmus Lund Nielsen, health spokesperson for the governing Moderates, said the government was open to reviewing both the size of the cap and whether it should be adjusted in future.

Health Minister Ida Auken of the Social Democrats did not wish to participate.