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Tuesday November 12, 2024

UK nurse’s death linked to weight loss jab: report

By AFP
November 09, 2024
A pharmacist displays a box of Mounjaro, a tirzepatide injection drug used for treating type 2 diabetes made by Lilly at Rock Canyon Pharmacy in Provo, Utah, US March 29, 2023. — Reuters
A pharmacist displays a box of Mounjaro, a tirzepatide injection drug used for treating type 2 diabetes made by Lilly at Rock Canyon Pharmacy in Provo, Utah, US March 29, 2023. — Reuters

LONDON: The death of a nurse has been linked to a weight loss jab due to be assessed by the UK government as a way of easing pressure on the overburdened state-run National Health Service, the BBC reported on Friday.

Susan McGowan´s death is believed to be the first time the drug tirzepatide, known under the brand name Mounjaro, has been officially linked to a UK fatality, the broadcaster said.

McGowan´s death certificate, which the BBC said it had seen, listed multiple organ failure, septic shock and pancreatitis as the immediate cause of death with “the use of prescribed tirzepatide” as a contributing factor.

McGowan, 58, was prescribed the drug from a registered online pharmacy but after her second injection began suffering severe stomach pains and sickness.

She sought treatment at the hospital where she worked in North Lanarkshire in central Scotland but colleagues were unable to save her, the report added.