Fake weight loss injections with dirty needles being sent to NI
Illegal weight loss injections with dirty needles are being sold over social media and sent to people in Northern Ireland, a BBC investigation has found.
Analysis of the injections by Prof. Panagiotis Manesiotis, using the new Ion Mobility qTOF-MS facility in the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, proved that they did not contain semaglutide, but were instead solutions of carnitine, a performace enhancement supplement that can be bought on the high street.
Commenting on the findings, Prof. Manesiotis added "It is absolutely shocking that people are taking the risk to purchase pharmaceuticals like this in an injectable form off the internet."
"You don't know whether you're allergic to the content of it, you don't know if it's being manufactured in a clean way.
"Seeing how those samples arrived to me, I have serious concerns about health effects that they might have on the public."
He added that the needles themselves could be a carrier for bacterial infections, and could cause sepsis, which is a condition that needs to be treated immediately and requires urgent care.
"It could ultimately result in someone's death," he said.
More about the story available here.
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Prof. Panagiotis Manesiotis
p.manesiotis@qub.ac.uk