Health authorities sound alarm over rare side effect of obesity drugs
Health authorities in the United Kingdom and Brazil have issued warnings over a potential link between widely used GLP-1 weight loss medications and acute pancreatitis, a rare but potentially fatal inflammation of the pancreas, reports a Qazinform News Agency correspondent.
The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency reported 19 deaths from pancreatitis among people taking GLP-1 drugs between 2007 and October 2025, alongside nearly 1,300 related cases. Brazil recorded six deaths and 145 cases between 2020 and December 2025. Widespread use of these medications for obesity began in 2021.
Alison Cave, chief safety officer at the UK regulator, said the rise in reports prompted stronger warnings. However, she stressed that, given the estimated 1.6 million adults who used GLP-1 drugs in Great Britain between early 2024 and early 2025, “the risk of developing these side effects is very small.”
Specialists caution that a direct causal link remains unproven. Jaime Almandoz of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center said vigilant monitoring and rigorous studies are needed “to help refine our understanding of these rare adverse events.”
Clinical evidence is mixed. A 2025 meta analysis of 62 randomized trials found a slightly increased risk of pancreatitis among GLP-1 users, while other studies found no association. Research led by Ebubekir Daglilar at West Virginia University comparing nearly 82,000 patients with type 2 diabetes in each group reported no difference in pancreatitis rates.
“The majority of the data that we see from published research is actually reassuring,” said Beverly Tchang of Weill Cornell Medicine.
Experts note that obesity, diabetes and rapid weight loss, which can trigger gallstones, are themselves risk factors. Regulators emphasize continued monitoring, stressing that “there’s always pros and cons to any intervention.”
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that data presented at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine annual pregnancy meeting showed that mRNA COVID-19 vaccination shortly before or during pregnancy was not associated with autism or other developmental disorders in young children.
