A young British woman tragically died one day after starting a diet prescription she purchased online. Self-conscious about her weight she turned to the same destination many consumers with embarrassing conditions do – the internet pharmacy. The lure of the internet pharmacy is anonymity... But, that is its danger also! These online stores do not always follow the same regulations and precautions as the brick and mortar drug stores do. They often do not require prescriptions or ask for current medications, and sometimes, as in this case, sell banned or unapproved medications.
A report by The European Alliance for Access to Safe Medicines (EAASM) stated that three out of five drugs purchased online are fakes and consumers were putting their health at risk when using them. Other disturbing statistics disclosed were:
• 95.6% of online pharmacies researched are operating illegally.
• 94% of websites do not have a named, verifiable pharmacist.
• Over 90% of websites supply prescription-only medicines without a prescription.
• 86% of online 'pharmacy approval' stamps are fake.
In this particular case, young 26-year-old Selena Walrond, from Croydon in South London was just looking for a slimmer version of herself. From a Chinese website she purchase DNP or dinitrophenol, a fat burning chemical which boast an increase of 50% in metabolic rate which can result in a 10 – 12 pound weight loss in just 8 days. The following day, Selena was found with a racing pulse and feverish. She was rushed to the hospital by her mother and died of cardiac arrest.
DNP is as dangerous as it is effective – making it one of the first drugs to be banned in the U.S. by The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) back in 1938 and it has never been approved in the United Kingdom (UK). The drugs side effects include sweats, insomnia, cataracts, and death.
Beware -- sometimes when a deal sounds too good to be true, it is and the costs can be more than you even imagined…..
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