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A nurse’s death has been linked to her taking a weight-loss drug that was approved for use on the NHS.
Susan McGowan, 58, from Lanarkshire, died from multiple organ failure, septic shock and pancreatitis after taking two low-dose injections of tirzepatide, known under the brand name Mounjaro.
She took the jabs for a two-week period before her death on September 4, which is thought to be the first death officially linked to drug in the UK.
Ms McGowan was a nurse at University Hospital Monklands in Airdrie, Scotland, for more than three decades and had often chatted with her friends about her struggle to lose weight.
Just days after taking the drug, which costs between £150 and £200 for a four-week supply, Ms McGowan started having severe stomach pains and went to A&E at the hospital she worked at.
Although her colleagues fought to save her, she tragically passed away with her niece Jade Campbell by her side.
Earlier this year it was revealed the medicines watchdog received reports of ten deaths linked to the use of weight loss jabs and 7,228 reports of nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea associated with the likes of Wegovy and Ozempic.
Susan McGowan, 58, (left) died with her niece Jade Campbell (right) by her side two weeks after taking a weight-loss drug
The nurse of three decades went to A&E at the hospital she worked at with severe stomach pains but her colleagues were sadly unable to save her
Weight-loss jab Mounjaro was approved for use by NHS Scotland by the Scottish Medicines Consortium in June this year
Of these, 68 patients were admitted to hospital, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said.
The numbers are based on users or healthcare workers informing the regulator of adverse reactions to the drugs, known as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs).
A reported death or adverse reaction does not necessarily mean it has been caused by the medicine, only that someone had a suspicion it may have been.
Underlying or concurrent illnesses and other medicines the patients may have been taken at the time of their death may be responsible and such events can also be coincidental, it told trade magazine Chemist and Druggist.
The MHRA has urged healthcare professionals to ‘report cases of misuse’ and ‘inform patients about the common and serious side effects associated with GLP-1RAs’.
At the time, it said it knew of 46 hospitalisations as of August 16 – suggesting there have been an additional 22 reports in two months, representing a 48 per cent increase.
Between January and May of this year there were 208 reports concerning tirzepatide on the Yellow Card scheme, which records adverse effects of medicine in the UK.
Such adverse reactions included 31 serious reactions and the suspected death of a man in his sixties.
Ms McGowan bought a prescription through a registered online pharmacy after looking into Mounjaro and seeking medical advice.
Her niece Jade told the BBC: ‘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.’
In June, Scotland became the first country in the UK to approve Mounjaro, which was dubbed the ‘King Kong’ of obesity jabs.
The Scottish Medicines Consortium ruled this year that Mounjaro could be made available on the NHS to people to help them lose weight.
Ms McGowan was described as a ‘bubbly’ person and the ‘life of the party’ by her niece Jade
Mounjaro is the latest in a line of slimming injections that have seen users shed huge amounts of weight, and is thought to be one of the most effective.
It will cost the Scottish NHS £33.6million a year. The cost of obesity to the NHS is estimated at £600million a year.
Mounjaro is the brand name of a drug called tirzepatide, and is given as a weekly injection in various strengths.
It is the latest of a new generation of jabs that help people lose weight, similar to Ozempic and Wegovy which have also recently been approved by the SMC.
The drugs, known as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs), suppress hunger by mimicking hormones indicating that the body is full.
Mounjaro also slows the passage of food through the stomach.
Studies have found people can lose up to 20 per cent of their body weight over 36 weeks by taking Mounjaro.
NHS-backed data source OpenPrescribing shows soaring prescriptions for semaglutide, the drug in Ozempic and Wegovy
Deaths in America linked to semaglutide and tirzepatide by year. Semaglutide is the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy while tirzepatide is used in drugs including Zepbound. Yellow is used for 2024 to indicate the data is incomplete
The difference in results led US diabetes expert Dr Julio Rosenstock to declare Mounjaro ‘King Kong’ compared to ‘the gorilla’ of its rival Wegovy.
However people generally need to keep taking the medicine in order to maintain their weight loss.
Mounjaro was recently approved by the SMC as a treatment for type 2 diabetes as it also helps boost the production of insulin, the hormone that regulates blood sugar.
The June ruling paved the way for thousands of Scots without diabetes to receive injections to help them lose weight.
Earlier this week, the Danish manufacturer of famed weight-loss jab Ozempic revealed that ten Americans died and 100 were hospitalised after taking pharmacy-made knockoffs of their drug.
Meanwhile, weight loss shots like Ozempic have been linked to 162 deaths in the US, DailyMail.com revealed.
One of the victims was a 45-year-old woman who choked on her own vomit while on Mounjaro, a rival drug that works the same way.
Another involved a 23-year-old man who died from vomiting, nausea, and a rapid heart rate after taking Wegovy.
