Weight-loss Medications And The Increasing Risk Of Claims

GLP-1 weight-loss medications, once used primarily for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes, are now much more widely used in both NHS and private healthcare. Wegovy, Mounjaro and Ozempic are now well known as weight-loss medications. For many patients, the benefits are transformative, but the rapid increase in use of these medicines also increases the risk of claims against healthcare providers.

The scale of prescribing gives some sense of the exposure involved. NHS England dispensed more than four million items of tirzepatide (Mounjaro) and semaglutide (Wegovy, Ozempic) in 2025/26 alone, and several million more people are understood to be accessing these medications privately across the UK. In Scotland, NHS prescribing is being introduced in phases, with current eligibility set at a BMI over 38 together with at least one weight-related health condition. Freedom of Information requests obtained by BBC Scotland News found that around 5,866 patients were being seen by specialist weight management services, with a further 8,756 on waiting lists, and the private market for these medications continues to grow quickly in Scotland as elsewhere in the UK. Polling suggests millions more UK adults intend to start GLP-1 treatment this year.

The potential adverse effects of these medications are under continuous review. In January 2026 the MHRA updated its safety information for GLP-1 medicines and issued an alert on the rare but sometimes fatal risk of acute pancreatitis.

Patients are increasingly sourcing weight-loss treatment through remote consultations with online providers, where a prescription may be issued by the provider’s own prescribing pharmacist on the strength of little more than an online questionnaire and a self-reported weight, without any face-to-face or video assessment and without verification against the patient’s own GP records. In April 2026 the General Pharmaceutical Council published an inspection-based analysis identifying examples of unsafe practice among some online pharmacy providers, including prescribing to patients who did not meet NICE’s eligibility criteria and supplying medication without direct clinician interaction. Where prescribing is not preceded by proper verification of eligibility, medical history and contraindications, or is not followed by adequate monitoring as doses are titrated, the risk is that a patient who suffers harm will allege that they were not adequately consented, or they were not monitored appropriately during treatment.

The General Pharmaceutical Council published guidance that all online pharmacies must follow when providing weight loss medications. Online providers are required to ensure that they have sufficient information to determine whether the prescription is clinically appropriate. This has an impact on the need for information sharing between online providers and GPs.

Healthcare providers who are involved in assessing a patient’s suitability for treatment, prescribing the medication, or reviewing patients undergoing treatment, will be aware of the need to ensure that assessment and consent processes are robust and properly documented, and that follow-up arrangements are proportionate to the risks involved.