Two deaths reported to drug watchdog over potential link to weight-loss jabs

The deaths of two people in Northern Ireland potentially linked to weight-loss injections have been reported to the government agency responsible for ensuring medicines are safe.

The two cases are among more than 500 suspected adverse drug reaction reports submitted from Northern Ireland over the last two years related to GLP-1 medications.

The drugs, prescribed under names such as Wegovy and Mounjaro, are widely used across the UK for weight management and to treat diabetes.

The reports were made to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

The MHRA said a report of a suspected reaction "does not necessarily mean it has been caused by the medicine, only that the reporter had a suspicion it may have".

"Underlying or concurrent illnesses may be responsible, or the events could be coincidental," it added.

The data shows that the two deaths were of a man and a woman, one who was in their 40s and the other in their 60s, although it does not specify which age category applied to which person.

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Source: BBC News, 9 March 2026