Weight loss injections have been associated with an uptick in individuals requiring gallbladder removal surgery.
A prominent surgeon has noted an increasing number of his patients undergoing these procedures mentioning that they have used the injections. The National Health Service (NHS) conducted 80,196 gallbladder surgeries in England in 2024-25, marking a 15% rise from the previous year and the highest number in ten years.
Surgeon Ahmed Ahmed, the president of the British Obesity and Metabolic Specialist Society, is advocating for further investigation into a potential connection between weight loss injections and gallbladder removals. He emphasized the need for research to determine whether the injections directly cause gallstones or if it is the rapid weight loss induced by the injections that leads to gallstone formation.
Gallstones, which are solid deposits of digestive fluid in the gallbladder, are a recognized side effect of weight loss injections. Factors such as quick weight loss, a low-fiber high-fat diet, and obesity can also contribute to gallstone development.
James Hewes, a consultant surgeon in Bristol specializing in obesity and bariatric surgery, reported an increase in patients with gallstones. The difficulty lies in discerning whether this rise is linked to the injections or if the patients had pre-existing gallstones that were not adequately assessed earlier.
Weekly injections like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro work by slowing digestion and reducing appetite through mimicking the hormone GLP-1, which regulates hunger and satiety. These injections were reportedly used by approximately 1.6 million individuals in the UK last year.
Common side effects of these injections include vomiting, necessitating personalized support from specialists to sustain weight loss. While the NHS prescribes Mounjaro and Wegovy for weight loss purposes, Ozempic is specifically for diabetes management.
Manufacturers like Eli Lilly, producer of Mounjaro, caution that gallstones are a prevalent side effect when the drug is employed for weight management, affecting up to one in ten individuals. However, when used for managing type 2 diabetes, gallstones and gallbladder infections are infrequent, impacting around one in 100 people.
Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of Wegovy, stated that GLP-1 drugs have undergone extensive clinical trials ensuring patient safety. Adverse reactions observed during semaglutide trials are detailed in the drug’s characteristics summary.
According to Novo Nordisk, acute gallstone disease occurred in 1.6% of patients, leading to cholecystitis in 0.6% of cases. As a precaution, acute gallstone disease is classified as a “common” potential adverse reaction for Wegovy in the UK product summary, to be considered during patient evaluation.
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