Weight-loss jabs linked to hundreds of cases of life-threatening illness and 10 deaths

Weight-loss jabs have been linked to hundreds of people falling ill with a life-threatening illness and 10 deaths, the UK’s drugs regulator has warned.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is investigating after 294 people suffered acute and chronic pancreatitis after taking tirzepatide, the active ingredient of Mounjaro, and semaglutide, used in Ozempic and Wegovy.

While none have been proven to be caused directly by the GLP-1 drugs, which are also used to treat diabetes, there are fears that not enough is known about the links, prompting health officials to launch a new study into the harmful side effects.

It comes just days after Mounjaro was made available at GP surgeries across England, while Ozempic and Wegovy can be obtained on the NHS through a weight management referral; however, Mounjaro and Wegovy can be purchased online privately.

It’s believed around 1.5 million people currently take weight-loss jabs – 4 per cent of households in the UK – with their popularity soaring and the NHS’s top doctor, Sir Stephen Powis, saying they could soon become the most commonly used drug.

Dr Simon Cork, senior lecturer in physiology at Anglia Ruskin University, said: “The percentages for pancreatitis seen in clinical trials was small, but we know that many people are now purchasing these medications privately. Small percentages in large numbers means an increasing number of people developing these conditions, although they still remain rare.”

However, Dr Cork said it was important to recognise that the risks associated with obesity outweighed those attached to taking the medications.

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Source: The Independent, 26 June 2025