Are GLP-1 weight-loss drugs safe?

For obesity and diabetes, yes, with limits. The SELECT trial found 20% fewer heart attacks, strokes and cardiac deaths combined, in people who already had heart disease. No trial runs past 4 years, weight returns faster after stopping, and Cochrane warns the makers funded most trials. UK regulators logged 1,176 pancreatitis reports and 18 deaths on Mounjaro alone and issued a class-wide fatal-pancreatitis warning in January 2026.