Hundreds of deaths suspected of being linked to weight-loss jabs reported to regulator

More than 200 deaths suspected of being linked to weight-loss jabs have been reported to health officials, figures suggest.

The regulator also received reports of more than 158,000 adverse reactions linked to the medications.

Anyone suspecting an adverse reaction is linked to a medicine can report it to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency's (MHRA) Yellow Card Scheme.

Data from the scheme indicate 106,189 adverse reactions, including gastrointestinal problems, and 120 deaths have been reported regarding tirzepatide - sold under the brand name Mounjaro.

Some 48,089 reactions and 59 deaths have been reported as suspected of being linked to semaglutide, the active ingredient for the weight-loss drug Wegovy. It is also the active ingredient for diabetes treatments Ozempic and Rybelsus.

A total of 4,491 adverse reactions and 37 deaths have been reported as being suspected to be linked to liraglutide, sold under the brand name Saxenda, which is also used to treat diabetes under different brand names.

The regulator said adverse reactions and deaths reported to its Yellow Card Scheme did not necessarily mean the death or the reaction was caused by the medicine, only that the reporter had a suspicion it may have been.

Read more from Sky News:
Man extradited to UK and charged over schoolboy's death
Boxer accused of killing woman and putting body in suitcase in court

An MHRA spokesperson said: "It is important to place these reports in the context of the millions of GLP-1 prescriptions issued in the UK.

"Reporting volumes can be influenced by increased use, greater awareness of a potential adverse reaction and other factors.

"As with all medicines, the safety of GLP-1s are kept under continual review including emerging evidence from spontaneous data and scientific publications.

"Any potential updates regarding the safety for these medicines would be promptly communicated to patients and healthcare professionals, and appropriate steps taken to mitigate any identified risk.

"On the basis of the current evidence, the benefits of GLP-1 receptor agonists outweigh the potential risks when used in line with their authorised uses."

Health Secretary Yvette Cooper told LBC Radio: "We have a whole system of health safety regulations in place where experts will do monitoring of any adverse impacts, of any safety reports, any concerns that are raised.

"And the good thing about the fact that we have a National Health Service means that all of those reports can be collected together - all of them can be monitored.

"And we ensure that those experts, the expert regulators, are monitoring that at all times and making sure if there are any wider concerns, if there are any issues that need to be raised, then they are brought to the health secretary, to health ministers, as well as to the public, to make sure that safety is always paramount."

(c) Sky News 2026: Hundreds of deaths suspected of being linked to weight-loss jabs reported to regulator