A woman says she was diagnosed with potentially life-threatening pancreatitis less than two months after starting to take the weight-loss jab Mounjaro.
Julie Bishop, 55, decided to buy the drug online as part of a £120-a-month subscription after exhausting other avenues to lose weight.
Mounjaro, the brand name for tirzepatide, has become increasingly popular in the UK since it was licensed for sale, and this week became available on the NHS through a GP.
But despite losing two-and-a-half stone through taking the weekly jab for eight weeks, Ms Bishop had to stop after she was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis. The condition is when the small organ, located behind the stomach, becomes inflamed. It can lead to the pancreas becoming infected, leading to sepsis and organ failure that can be fatal.
“I suddenly got a severe pain around my stomach and when it became clear I couldn’t walk it off, I went to the local walk-in centre,” the mental health worker told The Independent.
“When I got there, they did an ECG (electrocardiogram) and when I told them I took Mounjaro, they sent me by taxi to hospital where I was diagnosed with pancreatitis after a blood test.
“They said I had to stop taking Mounjaro as it could be linked. It was all very worrying for me, as the drug had been working really well.”
Following her diagnosis on 15 May, Ms Bishop suffered two more pancreatic “attacks” which resulted in hospital visits, and she is now waiting to have a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to understand the extent of damage to her pancreas, and any complications.
Doctors cannot yet be sure the pancreatitis is linked to taking Mounjaro. One other possible cause could be high levels of cholesterol in the body, which can form gallstones through rapid weight loss and can block the pancreatic duct, leading to pancreatitis.
Her story comes as a new report highlights the possible danger linked to taking GLP-1 medicine weight loss and diabetes jabs, including Mounjaro.
Official figures from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) reveal that some 181 cases of acute and chronic pancreatitis were reported to be linked to Mounjaro since it was licensed, leading to the deaths of five people.
The figures come from voluntary medical reports of adverse incidents with medicines, and usage of a drug may have been coincidental to a condition rather than responsible for it.
However, Ms Bishop said more needed to be done to share the risks involved with taking the drugs.
She bought Mounjaro from an online retailer called Zava, which she said asked her to send basic photographs of her body and answer questions on her medical history before sending out the drugs.
She said she was concerned that the company, which is partnered with Asda in the UK, did not reply to her message alerting them to her diagnosis more than a month ago.
“I know a lot of people who take it, so I wasn’t initially concerned over using it,” she said.
“I think it’d help if it was explained to people how important their organs, such as the pancreas, are to the body, and the damage a side effect can really cause.
“I’d be tempted to go back on it, but only through the NHS. I think these drugs should only really be coming to the public through NHS, potentially though paying for it, because of the risks involved.”
On Zava’s website, the three steps for a weight loss consultation to get the jabs are a “quick and simple” medical questionnaire, choosing a preferred treatment, and a doctor check.
Under “rare” long-term side effects listed, it includes pancreatitis for Mounjaro.
From this week, people can also get the drug from a GP if they have a BMI of 40 or over, and one of four out of five conditions that include type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. Ozempic and Wegovy weight-loss jabs are available on the NHS, but only after a referral to a specialist weight management service.
Earlier this month, the NHS’s top doctor, Professor Sir Stephen Powis, said weight-loss jabs could become the most commonly used drugs, as an estimated 1.5 million people are now taking them in the UK.
He hailed the rollout of Mounjaro at GP surgeries as part of a fight against obesity, claiming that one day, they could become available in pharmacies.
But he also warned the drugs could be harmful if prescribed without the right checks and wraparound care.
“They can have side effects, including nausea, dehydration and inflammation of the pancreas, and a worrying number of people are continuing to access them without appropriate checks via the internet,” he said.
Zava’s chief medical director Dr Zenon Andreou said he could not discuss Ms Bishop’s case because of patient confidentiality. He said: “We take the wellbeing of our patients very, very seriously and we pride ourselves in the way we treat them.
“We are aware that pancreatitis can be one of the side effects of weight-loss drugs. We will not prescribe the medication to anybody with pancreatitis. Regarding messages from patients and their journey with us, we respond to all messages that require medical attention to provide support from us.”
A spokesperson for Lilly, which produces Mounjaro, said a patient leaflet warned that an inflamed pancreas was an uncommon side effect, impacting up to 1 in 100 people. They added: “We encourage patients to consult their doctor or other healthcare professional regarding any side effects they may be experiencing and to ensure that they are getting genuine Lilly medicine.”
