Experts have issued GPs with crucial guidance on weight loss jabs to avoid deadly complications, as the injections are offered to millions more Britons on the NHS.
The advice tells doctors to look for signs of two life-threatening conditions that can be triggered by the drugs; acute pancreatitis and biliary disease.
Both diseases involve significant damage to the digestive organs, which can lead to body-wide complications and eventually death, if untreated.
The experts, from King’s College London and the University of East Anglia, warned of four ‘red flag’ symptoms that could indicate these diseases, or other harmful side effects—dizziness, falls, gastrointestinal symptoms or rapid weight change.
Additionally, doctors should ask in a ‘non-judgemental’ manner if patients are using weight loss jabs, as many access them privately and will not always disclose it to their GP.
GPs must also warn patients using the jabs to stop if they are planning to become pregnant due to unknown risks to unborn babies, the team of experts in obesity and general practice said.
Patients on the injections must also stop a week before surgery to lower the chance of the potentially deadly complication of liquid and food entering the lungs.
It comes as patients in England this week became able to get the so-called ‘King Kong’ of weight loss jabs, Mounjaro, through their GP for the first time.
Within 12 years, the NHS estimates that around four million Britons are expected to be receiving NHS weight-loss jabs
The weekly injection, also known as tirzepatide, will be offered to around 220,000 people over the next three years under new NHS prescribing rules.
Previously the potent drug, which helps patients shed up to a fifth of their body weight in a year, was available privately and at a small number of specialist NHS weight loss clinics.
GPs can now prescribe the drug to patients with a BMI over 40—classed as severely obese—and at least four obesity-related health conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure or sleep apnoea.
Mounjaro is a GLP-1 injection, which mimics the effect of a hunger hormone that is released by the stomach in response to eating and tells the brain when it is full.
In 2021, Wegovy—which contains the drug semaglutide, also found in Ozempic—became the first GLP-1 injection to be approved for use in the UK.
Studies suggest that around 1.5million people in the UK are using GLP-1 jabs to lose weight.
However, as the popularity of the injections has risen, so too has concern about a number of little-known ill-effects.
These include including nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, bone fractures, tooth damage, severe anxiety and depression, as well as more serious conditions like organ damage.
Earlier this month, it was reported that more than 100 British deaths have been linked to weight loss jabs like Mounjaro and Wegovy.
None of the fatalities, which have all been reported since the jabs were licensed for use in the UK, are proven to have been caused directly by the drugs.
However, health chiefs tasked with policing the safety of medicines admit reports of side effects indicate ‘a suspicion’ they may have been to blame.
In November last year, news broke of the death of Scottish nurse Susan McGowan, 58, who experienced multiple organ failure, septic shock and pancreatitis after taking just two doses of Mounjaro.
Hers is the only confirmed fatality linked to the jabs in the UK.
While scientists aren’t completely clear on the reasons why GLP-1 drugs can trigger deadly pancreatitis, experts have suggested the medication may ‘overstimulate’ cells in the organ.
Medications like Mounjaro interact with the pancreas by enhancing insulin release, helping to stabilise blood sugars.
However, this could cause put excess strain on the organ, causing it to become severely inflammed.
The warning follows the death of Scottish nurse Susan McGowan, 58, who experienced multiple organ failure , septic shock and pancreatitis after taking just two doses of Mounjaro
Speaking of the latest warning to doctors, Dr Laurence Dobbie, a general practice expert from King’s College London and one of the authors of the guidance, said: ‘I’ve seen patients in primary care who are clearly taking the medications, but they haven’t been given wrap-around care.
‘More than a million people are taking these medicines privately and seeing GPs with lots of different problems.
‘We want GPs to have the basic knowledge to prioritise patient safety and demystify side effects.’
Dr Dobbie and the other experts also warned that those on the jabs may need to review other medicines due to potentially harmful interactions.
These include high blood pressure medications, and those that lower glucose levels in the blood, but also levothryoxine that are used to treat thyroid conditions, opiate painkillers and anti-epileptics medications.
The guidance is the first output of Obesity Management Collaborative UK, a network set up in 2024 to support clinicians managing patients with obesity.
The network’s chair, Professor Barbara McGowan from King’s College London, said: ‘These tips aim to upskill GPs in the management and monitoring of patients on these medications.
‘By embedding these recommendations into routine clinical practice, we can ensure patient safety and optimise the care of individuals living with obesity.’
