Nurse’s death linked to approved weight-loss drug

The decease of a caregiver from North Lanarkshire has been linked to the usage of a weight-loss cause precocious approved for usage connected the NHS.

Susan McGowan, 58, took 2 low-dose injections of tirzepatide, known nether the marque sanction Mounjaro, implicit the people of astir 2 weeks earlier her decease connected 4 September.

Her decease certificate, seen by the BBC, lists aggregate organ failure, septic daze and pancreatitis arsenic the contiguous origin of decease – but "the usage of prescribed tirzepatide" is besides recorded arsenic a contributing factor.

It is thought to beryllium the archetypal decease officially linked to the cause successful the UK

Ms McGowan worked arsenic a caregiver astatine University Hospital Monklands successful Airdrie for much than 30 years.

The fashionable furniture manager had often discussed her value nonaccomplishment attempts with adjacent friends, but the emergence of caller weight-loss jabs seemed to her to connection amended chances of success.

After researching Mounjaro and seeking aesculapian advice, she purchased a medicine via a registered online pharmacy.

The cause typically costs betwixt £150 and £200 for a four-week proviso and tin beryllium purchased from immoderate registered pharmacy successful the UK.

Days aft her 2nd injection she began experiencing terrible tummy pains and sickness, truthful she went to A&E astatine Monklands - wherever her colleagues battled to prevention her life.

Jade Campbell, Ms McGowan's niece, was with her erstwhile she died.

She said: “Susan had ever carried a wee spot of other value but determination were ne'er immoderate wellness concerns. She wasn't connected immoderate different medication. She was healthy."

“Susan was specified a bubbly person. She was truly generous, she was truly benignant and she was the beingness of the enactment - a immense personality. They said she had the biggest laughter successful the hospital."

Ms Campbell was told by doctors that her aunt's kidneys were not functioning properly. Days aboriginal she went into a coma, and her organs began to fail.

"It was truthful quick," she said. "I inactive find myself thinking, ‘has that really happened?’"

Tirzepatide is 1 of a radical of weight-loss drugs known arsenic GLP-1 receptor agonists, which enactment by making the diligent consciousness fuller for longer.

It was approved for usage arsenic a weight-loss assistance successful the UK successful 2023 by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

That included usage connected the NHS, though the cause is presently lone prescribed by the NHS for a tiny fig of patients owed to factors similar outgo and availability.

The MHRA runs the yellowish paper scheme, wherever immoderate subordinate of the nationalist oregon wellness assemblage tin log reports of suspected broadside effects of drugs.

Public information is lone disposable up to May this year, but betwixt January and May 2024 determination were 208 reports astir tirzepatide connected the yellowish paper scheme, including 31 superior reactions and 1 suspected decease of a antheral successful his sixties.

Ms McGowan's decease is excessively caller to look wrong this data.

Dr Alison Cave, MHRA main information officer, said that caller medicines, specified arsenic tirzepatide, are much intensively monitored to guarantee immoderate caller information issues are identified promptly.

She said: "Our sincere sympathies are with the household of idiosyncratic concerned. Patient information is our apical precedence and nary medicine would beryllium approved unless it met our expected standards of safety, prime and effectiveness.

"We person robust, information monitoring and surveillance systems successful spot for each healthcare products.

"On the ground of the existent grounds the benefits of GLP-1 RAs outweigh the imaginable risks erstwhile utilized for the licensed indications."

Mounjaro shaper Lilly said diligent information was the company's apical priority.

A spokesperson said: "We are committed to continually monitoring, evaluating, and reporting information accusation for each Lilly medicines.

"Mounjaro was approved based connected extended appraisal of the benefits and risks of the medicine, and we supply accusation astir the benefits and risks of each our medicines to regulators astir the satellite to guarantee the latest accusation is disposable for prescribers."

Semaglutide, known by the marque names Wegovy and Ozempic, are besides GLP-1 receptor agonists.

There person been 23 suspected deaths linked to semaglutide successful the UK via the yellowish paper strategy since 2019.

These drugs person passed the objective trials needed to beryllium approved for usage successful the UK and person been cautiously welcomed by those moving to tackle obesity.

Naveed Sattar, prof of metabolic medicine astatine the University of Glasgow and chairs of the UK government’s obesity mission, said it was hard to found "cause and effect" successful azygous cases wherever patients dice aft taking the drugs.

He said: “Trials are precise robust successful trying to found safety, that the drugs mostly person important benefits that outweigh the risks.

“There’s capable grounds disposable that these drugs person beardown meaningful value loss, that the broadside effect profiles are mostly good for the immense bulk of individuals.

“The world is we person a large request to assistance galore radical surviving with utmost levels of precocious BMI to assistance suffer value with these drugs that volition springiness aggregate benefits and for galore years we haven’t had specified tools. There are galore individuals, astir speaking 1 successful 4 to 1 successful 5 adults surviving successful the UK, who could payment from these drugs.”

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Tirzepatide became the taxable of nationalist statement precocious erstwhile the UK authorities announced plans to roll it retired to unemployed people to assistance them backmost into work.

The authorities is partnering with the Mounjaro shaper to tally a five-year proceedings successful Greater Manchester.

Nearly 250,000 radical are expected to person the jab implicit the adjacent 3 years arsenic portion of the proceedings and Health Secretary Wes Streeting has hailed the jabs arsenic "game-changing".

But Ms Campbell believes it is not the close clip and hopes the UK authorities volition reconsider the decision.

She said: “I deliberation thing that's backed by the government, you would trust. I would inquire you to talk to your GP astir things similar this first, determination mightiness beryllium different enactment for you to see earlier you leap connected the weight-loss injections."

BBC News asked the section of wellness and societal attraction if it would reappraisal its determination fixed Ms McGowan’s death.

The UK authorities declined to comment.