{"id":1103,"date":"2024-08-12T02:04:22","date_gmt":"2024-08-12T02:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clickmen.us\/news\/?p=1103"},"modified":"2024-08-12T02:04:22","modified_gmt":"2024-08-12T02:04:22","slug":"illegal-semaglutide-slimming-medication-offered-in-salons-and-on-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clickmen.us\/news\/illegal-semaglutide-slimming-medication-offered-in-salons-and-on-line\/","title":{"rendered":"Illegal ‘semaglutide’ slimming medication offered in salons and on-line"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"VickyVicky Boyd<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Peter and Vicky Boyd say her signs after taking pretend semaglutide had been terrifying<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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For these with extreme weight points, semaglutide \u2013 the energetic ingredient in slimming medication \u2013 is usually a life-changer. Celebrity success tales have massively elevated demand, however introduced with it a booming black marketplace for unlawful and infrequently life-threatening merchandise. Daily News Investigations has found how simple these are to purchase.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“I just don\u2019t like my body. I’m self-conscious about it.”<\/p>\n

Vicky Boyd, from Newcastle, was trying ahead to a vacation, however on the identical time preventing extreme insecurity.<\/p>\n

“I went to hospital and they weighed me and I was 13 stone; that was big for me,” she mentioned.<\/p>\n

“It was stuck in my head constantly. I needed something. A quick fix.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

‘Riddled with toxins’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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Mrs Boyd determined to purchase semaglutide with out a prescription, making the acquisition from a “friend of a friend”.<\/p>\n

“I just injected myself – literally one dose and I was fine – then I got home and started feeling sleepy.<\/p>\n

“Around two within the morning I acquired up and I could not cease being sick. My facet and my again had been hurting and I simply felt like my physique was completely shutting down.”<\/p>\n

Initially she thought it would pass but, deep down, “I knew there was one thing severely incorrect”, she said.<\/p>\n

“I went to the hospital. They mentioned my physique was riddled with toxins and my coronary heart charge was 200-odd.<\/p>\n

“They rushed me in and put me on a drip. They said I’d damaged my kidneys.”<\/p>\n

Today, even after therapy, she says: “I\u2019m not the same. It feels like it’s totally damaged me.<\/p>\n

“People suppose it is a fast repair however, belief me, it isn’t.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Man<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Dr Stephen Childs found insulin, but no semaglutide, in a product analysed for the BBC<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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BBC Investigations spoke to several people who describe buying semaglutide – the active ingredient in the legal and licensed drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.<\/p>\n

While Ozempic is intended for those with type 2 diabetes, Wegovy is prescribed specifically for weight loss.<\/p>\n

One woman from Sunderland, who did not wish to be named, said she also bought semaglutide from a friend of a friend, but three hours after her first injection she started to feel sick.<\/p>\n

She then became violently ill and unable to keep even water down for “30 hours”.<\/p>\n

Suffering a very high heart rate, she attended A&E where the staff were “not shy” in telling her they were unimpressed with self-injecting.<\/p>\n

The BBC had the substance she bought tested at the University of Sunderland, where senior lecturer Dr Stephen Childs said it did not contain any semaglutide.<\/p>\n

Instead he found a small amount of insulin and other “unknown compounds”.<\/p>\n

Dr Childs said anyone who took insulin without needing to could experience health problems.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"A<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Another “semaglutide weight-loss package” bought from a Newcastle beauty salon<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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A second woman from Newcastle, who bought semaglutide from a beauty salon, also became ill after her first dose.<\/p>\n

She was rushed by ambulance to the RVI Hospital with symptoms including numbness, a heart rate that was “by way of the roof” and extreme vomiting.<\/p>\n

The BBC bought semaglutide from the same salon, which we are not identifying as it is only one of hundreds of illegal sellers across the country.<\/p>\n

The sale was arranged over Facebook and collected at a property in the Newcastle area.<\/p>\n

The kit cost \u00a3100 for a four-week course and came with needles, a liquid that was being kept in a domestic fridge, syringes, alcohol wipes and the semaglutide in white powder form.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"FacebookFacebook<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Social media groups are offering users of drugs sold as semaglutide unscientific advice on how to use them<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Our investigator was asked if they had diabetes or any history of thyroid cancer, then told how much to inject and where.<\/p>\n

Asked if there were any side effects, the seller said some people had experienced nausea or dizziness.<\/p>\n

Our reporter was told to join a Facebook group for more help, but no advice was given on how to store the medicines.<\/p>\n

The University of Sunderland tested the powder and found it was semaglutide, which is illegal to sell without approval.<\/p>\n

In response, the salon owner told us they had not been aware they were breaking the law and would stop selling the injections.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"GP<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Dr Paul Evans sees a spike in patient interest in slimming drugs whenever there is media coverage about their effectiveness<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Dr Paul Evans, a Gateshead GP, says Wegovy is available on prescription on the NHS, but currently not in the North East and North Cumbria.<\/p>\n

“Every time it comes up within the information we get a spike in sufferers asking about it and each time we’ve to say ‘I\u2019m sorry we will\u2019t prescribe that in the mean time’.<\/p>\n

“There’s not really a commissioning service for this in the North East at the moment. It\u2019s also not available because of supply issues.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

‘Gambling together with your life’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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Oksana Pyzik, a professor at UCL School of Pharmacy and member of the marketing campaign group Fight the Fakes, mentioned: “I think there is a level of casualness about Ozempic that we don’t see with other prescription medications.<\/p>\n

“People can collapse, have seizures and, if they do not get medical consideration, organ failure and extended harm.<\/p>\n

“The law needs to be updated and we also need to hold social media companies accountable.”<\/p>\n

But, she mentioned, extra training is required, including: “You’re really gambling with your own life by buying a medicine from social media.<\/p>\n

“It is simply not price dropping your life to reduce weight.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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