Weight loss and diabetes drugs taken by more than a million people in the UK have been linked to a potentially serious side effect, in some cases fatal, data from the UK's medicines regulator shows, Sky News reports. New data from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) shows that a group of drugs including Mounjaro, Wegovy and Ozempic may be linked to inflammation of the pancreas.

According to the MHRA, there have been 181 cases of acute or chronic pancreatitis associated with the drug Mounjaro and five deaths.

The drugs Wegovy and Ozempic have been associated with 113 reports of pancreatitis and one death. Other, less common versions of so-called GLP-1 drugs have also been linked to cases of illness and death.

There is no evidence that these drugs directly caused the deaths. And the evidence is insufficient for the MHRA to restrict access to them.

That's because pancreatitis also occurs in people not taking GLP-1 drugs - about 560 cases per one million people in the general population. The main causes are gallstones and alcohol. 

But the MHRA and Genomics England are launching a new study to find out if some people have genes that increase their risk of developing pancreatitis if they take GLP-1 drugs.

People who, according to the MHRA “yellow card” alert system, developed pancreatitis while taking the injections will be asked to give a saliva sample and have their genes tested.