UK medicines watchdog alerted to 18 suspected weight-loss jab deaths

ITV News has discovered that the UK’s drugs regulator has been alerted to 18 deaths with suspected links to weight-loss injections over the past four years.

The deaths, when the drugs semaglutide, liraglutide and tirzepatide were being used for weight management, were reported to the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency) between June 2020 and November 2024.

In ten of the cases, the medication was being used for weight-loss only, and in eight cases it was being used for weight-loss alongside diabetes treatment.

Lorna Edgar bought weight-loss injections online from a registered pharmacy.

Within three weeks she had lost one stone but then suffered serious side effects.

“It felt like I'd had a car crash inside me," she told ITV News. "I just collapsed on the bathroom floor. I was screaming, I couldn't move.”

She developed pancreatitis, a potentially fatal condition that causes inflammation of the pancreas, spending five days in hospital and months recovering.

“I couldn’t walk, I was bedridden, I couldn’t drive, I couldn’t get down steps, I couldn’t go to the toilet, couldn’t take my kids to school,” she recalled.

Ms Edgar had to have her gallbladder removed and now lives with chronic bowel problems.

“People just think it’s a miracle injection and you get skinny. I don't think people really are aware that it can cause long-term medical conditions,” she said.

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Source: ITV News, 27 November 2024