The obsession with diet pills has turned into something of a phenomenon, but dieters beware: buying slimming pills from illicit websites could be dangerous.
If you are planning on shedding a few pounds using diet pills, make sure you way up the costs as users of internet drug sites could end up with medication that could be life-threatening.
It is illegal to sell prescription-only drugs without a prescription or consultation in Britain, but a shocking 93 per cent of drug websites sell weight-loss products without a recommendation.
‘The consequences of buying medicines from unauthorized sellers can be life-threatening,’ says Charlie Abrahams from the brand protection company, MarkMonitor. ‘In most cases, they will receive medicines that look just like the real thing.’
The company examined 358 ecommerce websites selling diet pills or redirecting users to sites, which ship diet pills to Britain. Only two of these sites were authorisedto sell diet pills with a prescription to British customers, emphasizing the danger.
A spokeswoman for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency says: ‘Anyone who buys their medicines from internet sites could be in danger of receiving counterfeit or substandard medicines.
‘At best these will be a waste of money, at worst they will kill you,’ she says. So it looks like the traditional weight-loss method of eating less and exercising more is the best option for those who want that bikini body for summer.
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