Ahead of the national rollout of weight-loss injection Mounjaro, the general practitioners are urging patients to stop asking for the jab.
NHS GPs will be able to prescribe Mounjaro, a tirzepatide drug made by Eli Lilly, from next Monday (23).
They will be administered to patients who have a body mass index (BMI) over 35 and have an obesity-related illness such as high blood pressure.
This is estimated to be around 3.4 million people in the country.
Currently, the GPs restrict weight-loss medications like semaglutide, marketed as Ozempic, to type 2 diabetes patients, and the introduction of Mounjaro has triggered a surge in patient enquiries.
A number of surgeries have posted messages online asking patients to avoid requests for the drug as they need to follow the government norms.
Health secretary Wes Streeting is keen on a faster rollout, but experts warn it is not safe to prescribe them without long-term medical supervision.
As per the government figures, in 2022 to 2023, 64 per cent of adults aged 18 years and over in England were estimated to be overweight.
Market experts claim that the demand will vastly exceed supply, with only 220,000 people out of the eligible 3.4 million likely to get jabs by 2028.
National Pharmacy Association chair Olivier Picard said the NHS provision won't meet the demand, and many would procure it privately.
There has been growing concern after reports of side effects from the weight loss jabs.
The death of a nurse, Susan McGowan, last year brought to spotlight its adverse effects.
The 58-year-old had taken two low-dose injections of Mounjaro over about two weeks before her death on September 4, 2024.
She died due to multiple organ failure, septic shock, and pancreatitis. Hers is a confirmed fatality linked to the jabs in the UK.
A total of 111 deaths were later logged with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), with the patients' families or healthcare workers informing the regulator of a suspected fatal reaction to the drugs.
However, despite such concerns, weight loss drugs like Mounjaro, Wegovy, and Ozempic, continue to be in great demand.
