Nurse's death first in UK to be linked to weight loss injection

A woman has tragically lost her life after taking a weight loss injection, in what is thought to be the first death associated with these drugs. Nurse Susan McGowan, aged 58, administered two doses of the new generation of drugs before her untimely death in September.

These drugs, which make individuals feel full more quickly, are being introduced across the NHS. They have been praised as a lifeline for the NHS and the Government intends to provide them to jobless overweight individuals to assist them in returning to work.

Susan, who worked as an NHS bed manager, privately purchased a low dose of Mounjaro. This drug, known as the "King Kong" of weight loss injections, started being distributed to a quarter of a million NHS patients last year.

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Jade Campbell, Susan's niece who was present at the time of her death, spoke to the BBC : "It was so quick. I still find myself thinking, 'has that actually happened?' Susan had always carried a wee bit of extra weight but there were never any health concerns.

"She wasn't on any other medication. She was healthy. Susan was such a bubbly person. She was really generous, she was really kind and she was the life of the party - a huge personality. They said she had the biggest laugh in the hospital.", reports the Mirror.

Known as GLP-1 agonists, weight loss injections work by slowing digestion and reducing appetite, mimicking hormones that control hunger and feelings of satiety. They are designed to act like one of these hormones, known as glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1).

Mounjaro, also referred to as tirzepatide, was listed as a contributing factor on Susan's death certificate, which cites multiple organ failure, septic shock, and pancreatitis as the immediate cause. This is thought to be the first confirmed death associated with a GLP-1 agonist.

Public data for Mounjaro is only available up until May of this year. However, between January and May 2024, there were 208 reports of it on the NHS yellow card scheme, including 31 serious reactions and one suspected death of a man in his sixties.

The most commonly used GLP-1 agonist is semaglutide, sold under the brand names Wegovy and Ozempic, and there have been 23 suspected UK deaths linked to it via the yellow card scheme since 2019.

Susan's family reported that she began suffering from severe stomach pains and sickness a few days after her second injection. She was employed at University Hospital Monklands in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, where she was rushed to A&E and her colleagues fought to save her life.

Dr Alison Cave, chief safety officer at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), expressed her condolences, stating: "Our sincere sympathies are with the family of individual concerned. Patient safety is our top priority and no medicine would be approved unless it met our expected standards of safety, quality and effectiveness. We have robust, safety monitoring and surveillance systems in place for all healthcare products. On the basis of the current evidence the benefits of GLP-1 RAs outweigh the potential risks when used for the licensed indications."

The BBC has disclosed that the nurse conducted her own research into the injections and sought medical advice before obtaining a prescription from a registered online pharmacy. In the UK, weight loss injections can be acquired from any registered pharmacy, but customers must provide health-related information.

Due to high demand, the NHS has declared a phased introduction of Mounjaro following its approval for obesity treatment alongside type 2 diabetes. The health service plans to trial and incrementally expand online and community support services to facilitate the drug's distribution, as it requires accompanying weight management support from healthcare professionals.

Currently, the NHS lacks the capacity to prescribe Mounjaro to all who qualify; therefore, it will initially target the most severely obese and ill patients. Mounjaro, which is typically priced between £150 and £200 for a four-week supply in the private sector, is produced by Lilly.

A spokesperson from the company commented: "We are committed to continually monitoring, evaluating, and reporting safety information for all Lilly medicines. Mounjaro was approved based on extensive assessment of the benefits and risks of the medicine, and we provide information about the benefits and risks of all our medicines to regulators around the world to ensure the latest information is available for prescribers."

The medication's competitor, semaglutide, has experienced worldwide shortages after high-profile figures such as Sharon Osbourne, Elon Musk, and even former Prime Minister Boris Johnson publicly shared their experiences of using it privately for weight loss. Following in their footsteps, Mounjaro arrived on the scene, offering not only GLP-1 mimicking properties but also targeting a hormone known as GIP to enhance its appetite-suppressing effects.

Clinical trials have indicated that Mounjaro could assist obese individuals in shedding 21% of their body weight over a period of 72 weeks. Nevertheless, numerous patients taking GLP-1 medications have reported severe side effects, including vomiting and stomach cramps. When these drugs are prescribed via the NHS, they must be accompanied by bespoke advice and support, as studies suggest that without ongoing lifestyle modifications, users may initially lose muscle mass and subsequently regain fat.