Potentially deadly diet pills selling for £2.39 online

DANGEROUS slimming pills are being sold on ebay and other online marketplaces for as little as £2.39, an investigation has uncovered.

Dozens of the prescription drugs were freely available on the site as well as on Wish.com and Aliexpress, consumer champion Which? found.

The pills contain yohimbine and synephrine, which medical experts have warned can cause heart and kidney damage if used unsupervised.

They are advertised as weight-loss and workout aids but the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has said they have “considerable potential to cause harm if used without medical supervision or advice”.

Which? was able to purchase nine batches of the pills, costing from £2.39 up to £80, from sellers in Poland, Ukraine and India.

Dr James Coulson, a hospital consultant and member of the UK’S Committee on Toxicity, warned that high doses of yohimbine and synephrine could lead to heart attacks and strokes.

He said: “If you’d taken a lot of it you’d then start to see the effects of secondary organ damage, because of the rise in blood pressure, and you’d expect to see, potentially, damage to the cardiovascular system.”

Which? is calling for online marketplaces to be made legally responsible for the safety of the products sold on their sites. Currently the liability lies solely with the sellers.

The three online marketplaces have all since removed the listings found by Which?

A spokesman for ebay said: “We take the safety of our users extremely seriously and work closely with authorities like the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to help ensure sellers and listings on ebay comply with laws and regulations.”

Wish.com said it “generally restricts” the sale of prescription drugs.

An Aliexpress spokesman said: “Sellers who have these products listed will be penalised according to our policies.”