Hundreds of weight loss and diabetes jab users report pancreas problems | Health
Hundreds of people have reported problems with their pancreas linked to weight loss and diabetes injections, which prompted health officials to launch a study on side effects.
Certain cases of pancreatitis which would be linked to GLP-1 drugs (agonists of the Glucagon type peptide-1 receptors) were fatal.
This decision comes after an increase in acute pancreatitis reports in the Yellow Card System of the Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which monitors the undesirable effects for medicines and medical devices in the United Kingdom.
Acute pancreatitis is a sudden inflammation of the pancreas, a gland located behind the stomach that helps digestion. This often requires admission to the hospital. Symptoms include intense pain in abdomen, nausea and fever.
Patient information leaflets for GLP-1 drugs list pancreatitis as a “rare” reaction, affecting approximately one in 100 patient. To date, the diet has received nearly 400 acute pancreatitis reports from patients who have used Mounjaro, Wegovy, Ozempique and Liraglutide, with almost half (181) (Mounjaro).
More than a quarter of these cases have been reported in 2025. Since the start of the year, there have been 22 acute pancreatitis reports after having semaglutide (Ozempic and Wegovy), and 101 after taking the shooting (Mounjaro) to the yellow card system.
An MHRA spokesperson said: “In addition to increased use, we see a resumption of the number of yellow cards reports mentioning GLP-1 drugs and acute pancreatitis.”
Due to the impact of this serious patient disease, the MHRA said it wanted to understand if there were genetic factors at stake. He encouraged any hospitalized person with acute pancreatitis suspected of taking these drugs to report it to the Yellow Card System. Health professionals are also invited to present themselves to the program in the name of their patients.
The MHRA will then invite these patients to participate in the Biobank Yellow Card study, managed by Genomics England. Participants will be invited to provide more information, in parallel with a saliva sample, which will be analyzed by scientists.
Although there is no known genetic link that increases the risk of acute pancreatitis while taking GLP-1 medications, the MHRA said: “Sometimes genes can influence the side effects that individual experiences are taking a medication, therefore in the context of the growing use of these drugs and acute pancreatitis relationships that we have received,”
Studies have shown that undesirable drug effects are admissions to the hospital in six.
Dr. Alison Cave, the MHRA security chief, said: “Evidence shows that nearly a third of the side effects in drugs could be prevented with the introduction of genetic tests. It is predicted that the undesirable reactions of drugs cost the NHS more than 2.2 billion pounds sterling per year in the hospital stays. ”
A spokesperson for Lilly, the manufacturer of Mounjaro, said: “Patient safety is Lilly’s absolute priority.
“We take reports concerning patient safety seriously and on which we monitor, assess and actively report the safety information for all our medicines. Adverse events must be reported as part of the MHRA yellow card card scheme, but can be caused by other factors, including pre -existing conditions.
“The information leaflet of the patient of the mounjaro (shooting) warns that the fiery pancreas (acute pancreatitis) is a rare side effect (which can affect up to 1 in 100 people). He also advises patients to speak to their doctor or other healthcare professional before using Mounjaro if they have already had pancreatitis. ”
