The Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has claimed that women between the ages of 18-30 are most at risk of being lured in to buying counterfeit diet pills online.

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Using Google to search topics such as, “Ways to lose weight” and “How to lose weight fast” is enabling criminals to target people on the internet, by then advertising substances banned in the UK as a solution to their query.

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A spokesperson from MHRA, Joe Groszewski, told SISTERHOOD: ‘‘There are some very dangerous criminals who are preying on people’s insecurities and targeting them, using algorithms on people’s search history on the internet.”

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The most prominent drug which Groszewski warns is the most common in diet pills available online is Sibutramine. The drug was a fully licensed substance in the UK until 2010 when research revealed a strong correlation between those who consumed the drug and those who went on to develop serious health problems, including heart attacks and strokes. Alongside these ailments, there’s a plethora of side effects associated with the drug including diarrhoea, heart problems, blurred vision.

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“A lot of people would see a diet pill as a shortcut to losing weight, but they actually do cause very, very serious health problems,” Groszewski explained.

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In 2016 alone, the MHRA seized over 4.6 million fake medical products and closed 4,700 websites in the space of one month. Fake dental equipment, slimming pills, STI test strips and pregnancy test strips were amongst those seized.

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Sibutramine, which was marketed in the UK as Reductil, was banned in 2010 under instruction from the European Medicines Agency (EMEA.)

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Commenting on the epidemic of counterfeit diet pills on the internet, General Practitioner Dr Neal Parkes said: ‘The development of drugs that aid the fight against obesity are welcome, however they are powerful drugs with significant side effect profiles and they should only be prescribed under medical supervision.’

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Following the death of twenty-one-year-old, Beth Shipsey, in February 2017, from an overdose of the highly-toxic slimming aid DNP, the topic of counterfeit diet pills bought online has taken centre stage. Shipsey’s family are calling for tighter regulations.

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“More than 50% of the medicines you buy online are not up to scratch, which isn’t a well-known fact. DNP has a good reputation for helping you to lose weight but what’s less commonly-known is that it’s been implicated in the deaths of more than 60 people worldwide,” Groszewski commented.