After it was discovered that her use of a recently licensed weight-loss medication, Mounjaro, led to her unexpected death, the death of a North Lanarkshire nurse raised issues over the safety of that medication. With some specialists advising caution as its use grows increasingly common, the medication tripeptide has been connected to a rising number of significant side effects.
How Did the Nurse's Tragic Death Relate to Mounjaro?
After receiving two low-dose tripeptide injections—known under the brand Mounjaro—over two weeks, 58-year-old nurse Susan McGowan passed on September 4. Her death certificate notes pancreatitis, septic shock, and multiple organ failure as the immediate cause of death, with “the use of prescribed tripeptide” as a contributing factor.
This represents what is thought to be the first death formally connected to the drug in the United Kingdom. After working for over thirty years, McGowan was well-known among colleagues at University Hospital Monklands in Airdrie as a lively, effervescent person.
What Led McGowan to Try Mounjaro for Weight Loss?
McGowan was happy to read about new weight-loss injections like Mounjaro. She had often talked about her continuous battles with weight loss to her close friends. After researching and speaking with a doctor, she bought a prescription for the medication from a certified online pharmacy.
Usually costing between £150 and £200 for a four-week supply, mounjaro can be bought from any registered pharmacy across the United Kingdom. McGowan’s family said she was in good health without any past medical issues or prescriptions.
Jade Campbell, her niece, remembered: “Susan had always carried a tiny bit of extra weight, but there were never any health issues. She only took one additional medication. She was in good health.
But McGowan started to have terrible stomach discomfort and illness just days following her second injection. Her colleagues valiantly fought to save her life as she visited A&E at Monklands. Her kidneys failed, sadly, and she went into a coma before dying not too long later.
Still in amazement, Campbell replied, “It was so quick.” “Still find myself wondering, ‘Has that happened?'”
What Are the Risks of Tirzepatide?
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has approved tripeptide as a weight-loss medication. It is a GLP-1 receptor agonist that makes patients feel fuller for longer, regulating their appetite. However, its use has come under close examination ever since McGowan died.
According to an MHRA spokesman, new drugs like tripeptide are under close safety observation. Furthermore, medication is only approved once it satisfies the expected criteria of safety, quality, and potency was underlined.
The MHRA’s Yellow Card Program recorded 208 tripeptide reports between January and May 2024, including one suspected man in his sixties death and 31 significant reactions. But since McGowan’s death came after May, her case had not yet shown up in the publicly accessible records.
What Is the Government's Involvement in Mounjaro's Rollout?
McGowan’s death news arrives at a period when the UK government has been getting ready to introduce Mounjaro as part of a dubious five-year study aimed at helping jobless people shed weight and resume employment. Over the next three years, about 250,000 Greater Manchester residents are projected to get the injection; Health Secretary Wes Streeting refers to the program as “game-changing.”
But following McGowan’s death, her family—especially her niece— had worries about the drug’s extensive usage. “You would trust anything that the government backs,” Campbell remarked. “I would ask you to speak to your GP about things like this first; there could be another option for you to consider before you leap on the weight-loss injections.”
The government has yet to comment whether it will change its mind on the Mounjaro rollout following McGow. Is There a Growing Debate Over Weight-Loss Drugs?
Along with semaglutide (brand names Wegovy and Ozempic), Mounjaro belongs to a class of medications known as GLP-1 receptor agonists. These medications reduce hunger and assist people in weight loss. Although these drugs have been hailed for their success in treating obesity, safety issues surrounding them are also under question.
Professor of metabolic medicine Naveed Sattar of the University of Glasgow and chair of the obesity mission for the UK government said that although proving cause and effect in individuals is challenging, the medications usually show beneficial outcomes. “Trials are very robust in trying to establish safety, that the drugs generally have considerable benefits that outweigh the risks,” he said.
Given the rising incidence of obesity, Professor Sattar also underlined the need for efficient weight-loss solutions. “There’s enough evidence available that these drugs have strong, meaningful weight loss and that the side effect profiles are generally okay for the great majority of individuals,” he said.
Why Are People Calling for Caution and Further Review?
McGowan’s death has added to the mounting public worry over the use of weight-loss medicines like Mounjaro, notwithstanding the comfort of professionals. Calls for more excellent investigation of the medicine’s safety profile emerge as the argument goes on, especially given its increasing availability via government initiatives and NHS prescriptions.
McGowan’s family is left struggling with the untimely death of a cherished person as the public grows more dubious about the appropriateness of broad dissemination. Her niece Jade Campbell said, “Susan was such a bubbly person.” “She was the life of the party, truly kind and generous.”
The sad death of Susan McGowan reminds us sharply of the hazards associated with any new drug, especially when its long-term safety is still unknown as the government moves forward with its intentions to provide Mounjaro to a sizable section of the public.
