THE death of a Scottish nurse has been linked to a weight-loss drug approved on the NHS.
The death certificate of Susan McGowan from North Lanarkshire has listed multiple organ failures, septic shock and pancreatitis as the cause of death with "the use of prescribed tirzepatide" considered a contributing factor.
McGowan took two low-dose injects of tirzepatide - which is known as Mounjaro - in the two weeks leading up to her death on September 4, the BBC reports.
The 58-year-olds death is understood to be the first known death linked to the drug in the UK.
It comes after the UK Government confirmed it will run a trial in Manchester to find out if using weight-loss drugs can boost economic activity and reduce the burden of obesity on the NHS.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting previously denied that his plan to overweight unemployed people should be given injections to help them lose weight and get to work was "dystopian".
McGowan's family has said the Government should reconsider the move, however the UK Government has declined to comment.
Mounjaro and Ozempic are both self-injectable medications designed to regulate blood sugar levels in adults with type 2 diabetes. In the UK, Mounjaro is also approved for weight loss, whereas Ozempic is only authorised for managing type 2 diabetes.
Scotland was the first country in the UK to approve Mounjaro and approved Wegovy last year – but critics claim their roll-out has been delayed by bureaucracy.
The Scottish Medicines Consortium, which approves drugs for NHS Scotland, has also given Ozempic the greenlight but no regional health boards have the drugs available for weight loss.
McGowan had worked as nurse at University Hospital Monklands in Airdrie for more than 30 years and is said to have spoke of her weight-loss attempts often.
After she took the second injection, it is reported McGowan became sick with severe stomach pains and went to A&E at Monklands where she was treated by colleagues.
Her family was told her kidney's had lost function before she went into a coma and organ failure ensued.
"It was so quick," Jade Campbell, McGowan's niece told the BBC, adding: "I still find myself thinking, ‘has that actually happened?’"
She said: “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."
The manufacturer of the drug linked to McGowan's death, Lilly, said patient safety was top priority for the company.
A spokesperson said: "We are committed to continually monitoring, evaluating, and reporting safety information for all Lilly medicines.
"Mounjaro was approved based on extensive assessment of the benefits and risks of the medicine, and we provide information about the benefits and risks of all our medicines to regulators around the world to ensure the latest information is available for prescribers."
The pharmaceutical giant signed a £279 million partnership deal with the UK Government for the trial. McGowan's niece has urged the Government to reconsider and warned people to check with their GP before being involved in the trial.
She said: “I think anything that's backed by the government, you would trust. I would ask you to speak to your GP about things like this first, there might be another option for you to consider before you jump on the weight-loss injections."
Dr Alison Cave, Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency's (MHRA) chief safety officer, said: "Our sincere sympathies are with the family of individual concerned. Patient safety is our top priority and no medicine would be approved unless it met our expected standards of safety, quality and effectiveness.
"We have robust, safety monitoring and surveillance systems in place for all healthcare products.
"On the basis of the current evidence, the benefits of GLP-1 RAs outweigh the potential risks when used for the licensed indications."
