Weight loss medication - Bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cell

Essential information

Includes

Oral or injectable drugs for management of weight loss.

Excludes

Causes of obesity or related comorbidities. Donors with these conditions must be assessed using the relevant entries.

Obligatory
  1. Oral medication
    Must not donate if:
    1. The medication used is itself a reason for deferral, or
    2. The donor is experiencing significant side-effects.

  2. Injectable medication
    Must not donate if:
    1. Injectable medication has not been prescribed for the donor by a registered prescriber and/or has been obtained from a non-licensed source, or
    2. The donor is not using the medication as prescribed (e.g. sharing medication vials, pens or injection equipment with other users), or
    3. The donor is experiencing significant side-effects.

Bone marrow donors only:

Anaesthetics staff must be informed well before the proposed date of bone marrow harvest, and usually at the time of initial clinical assessment, if the donor is taking a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist drug, e.g. tirzepatide (Mounjaro®) or semaglutide (Wegovy®), due to the risk of delayed gastric emptying.

Discretionary

If:

  1. The medication is not in itself a reason for deferral, and
  2. The donor does not have significant side-effects, and
  3. The medication has been prescribed for the donor by a registered prescriber and obtained from a licensed source, and
  4. The donor is not sharing medication vials, pens or injection equipment, accept.

Supporting information

See if relevant
Additional information

Several treatments for weight loss are licensed for use by the NHS including the oral medication orlistat (Alli®, Xenical®) and the injectable medications tirzepatide (Mounjaro®), liraglutide (Saxenda®) and semaglutide (Wegovy®). Donors prescribed any of these through an NHS provider can be accepted provided they are well and are using the medication correctly. It is important to check the entry for any underlying health conditions that the donor may have. Donors who are diabetic should be assessed using the Diabetes mellitus entry.

Patients who are not eligible for NHS treatment may obtain weight loss medications from private providers. As long as the treatment has been prescribed by a registered healthcare professional and issued through a licensed pharmacy, the donor can be accepted. Donors who have obtained injectable medication from a non-licensed source (including from friends or family) should not be accepted. It is important that donors who may be sharing medication vials, pens or injecting equipment are not accepted.

Donors who have acquired treatments online can be accepted provided they meet the conditions outlined above. If staff are unsure whether a provider meets these criteria, refer to a Designated Clinical Support Officer.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist drugs, such as semaglutide (Wegovy®) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro®), can cause delayed gastric emptying. Bone marrow donors taking these drugs may require longer pre-operative periods of fasting than would otherwise be the case, so anaesthetics staff must be informed well in advance of the planned date of bone marrow harvest.

Reason for change:
This is a new entry.
Version details:

BM-DSG Edition 203 Release 61 (6 October 2026)