Recent data from the UK’s Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) suggest that over 200 deaths are suspected to be linked to weight-loss injections, alongside reports of more than 158,000 adverse reactions associated with these drugs.
Individuals who experience a suspected adverse reaction to a medicine can report it through the MHRA’s Yellow Card Scheme, which collects information to monitor drug safety. For the drug tirzepatide, marketed as Mounjaro, 106,189 adverse reactions have been logged, including gastrointestinal issues, with 120 deaths reported as suspected links.
Semaglutide, the active ingredient in the weight-loss drug Wegovy as well as in diabetes treatments Ozempic and Rybelsus, is associated with 48,089 reported reactions and 59 suspected deaths. Additionally, liraglutide, sold under the brand name Saxenda for weight loss and under other names for diabetes treatment, has 4,491 reported adverse reactions and 37 suspected deaths linked to it.
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The MHRA emphasises that reports made to the Yellow Card Scheme do not necessarily confirm that the medicine caused the reaction or death; they indicate a suspicion raised by the person reporting.
An MHRA spokesperson stated:
“It is important to place these reports in the context of the millions of GLP-1 prescriptions issued in the UK. Reporting volumes can be influenced by increased use, greater awareness of a potential adverse reaction and other factors.
As with all medicines, the safety of GLP-1s is kept under continual review including emerging evidence from spontaneous data and scientific publications. Any potential updates regarding the safety of these medicines would be promptly communicated to patients and healthcare professionals, and appropriate steps taken to mitigate any identified risk.
On the basis of the current evidence, the benefits of GLP-1 receptor agonists outweigh the potential risks when used in line with their authorised uses.”
Health Secretary Yvette Cooper, speaking on LBC Radio, reassured the public: “We have a whole system of health safety regulations in place where experts will do monitoring of any adverse impacts, of any safety reports, any concerns that are raised.
“And the good thing about the fact that we have a National Health Service means that all of those reports can be collected together – all of them can be monitored.
“And we ensure that those experts, the expert regulators, are monitoring that at all times and making sure if there are any wider concerns, if there are any issues that need to be raised, then they are brought to the health secretary, to health ministers, as well as to the public, to make sure that safety is always paramount.”