Family of grandmother, 73, who died after taking Mounjaro say doctors ‘were fixated on fat jab side effects’, inquest hears
An inquest heard that the family of Caroline Savage, a 73-year-old grandmother who died in October 2024, believe doctors became too focused on Mounjaro side effects and may have overlooked other potential causes of her illness. Mrs Savage, from Wortwell in Norfolk, had been privately prescribed the weight-loss drug for around four months, but died from faecal peritonitis caused by a perforated intestine, an illness not typically linked to Mounjaro. The case has raised wider concerns about doctors too readily attributing symptoms to weight-loss jabs when patients present with unexplained pain.
Mrs Savage fell ill on 18 October 2024 and was taken to Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, where she was assessed and discharged that evening before collapsing at home and dying shortly after midnight. Her daughter, Susannah Savage, told the coroner that Mounjaro appeared as the only potential diagnosis on her discharge letter, despite doctors also investigating pancreatitis and an abdominal aortic aneurysm. However, Norfolk area coroner Yvonne Blake said the evidence did not show doctors were "fixated" on Mounjaro, noting Mrs Savage had not yet taken her increased dose, and Mounjaro was not named in the coroner's narrative conclusion, which cited faecal peritonitis as the cause of death.
- Family says doctors wrongly blamed Mounjaro for grandmother's symptoms
- Coroner ruled death caused by faecal peritonitis, not the drug
- Coroner found no evidence doctors were "fixated" on Mounjaro
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Caroline Savage, 73, from Wortwell in Norfolk, died in October 2024 after being privately prescribed the weight-loss drug Mounjaro for around four months. An inquest is examining how she was treated when she fell seriously ill, and whether doctors' focus on the drug's known side effects affected the care she received.
Mrs Savage was taken to Norfolk and Norwich Hospital on 18 October 2024, assessed and sent home that evening, then collapsed and died at home shortly after midnight. Her family says Mounjaro was listed as the only likely diagnosis on her discharge paperwork, even though doctors had also been checking for other conditions.
The inquest later found she died of faecal peritonitis, a serious abdominal infection caused by a perforated intestine, which is not an illness usually linked to Mounjaro. The case matters because it touches on wider questions about how doctors assess patients taking popular weight-loss injections, and whether such drugs can overshadow consideration of other possible causes of illness.