Which? Computer survey finds potentially lethal ‘cosmetic enhancement’ products including Botox and Melanotan readily available online
Do-it-yourself Botox kits and illegal tanning injections are for sale on the internet prescription-free.
An investigation carried out by Which? Computing found Botox kits being sold on eBay, while Melanotan jabs, which claim to give users a tan, were available on a UK-based website.
The wrinkle-filler Botox packs contained Botox powder, saline, needles and a face map showing where to inject the drug.
The seller, based in Texas in the US, was offering the DIY kits for $95 (around £65) and was prepared to ship the product to buyers in the UK. Botox clinics typically charge between £110 to £400 an injection.
Posing as a potential buyer, Which? Computing contacted the seller, who told the magazine: “If you are afraid of injections there is a product called Inject-Ease that makes injecting a no-brainer.”
In 2007, 55,000 Botox injections were administered in the UK. Experts say injecting the prescription-only drug without medical expertise is dangerous.
Malti O’Mahoney, an aesthetic nurse who has been a Botox practitioner in London for 10 years, said: “If you did it yourself with Botox you could end up paralysing your whole face. Facial muscles are very complex and a lay person would not know this. It is a full medical procedure, requiring a patient’s medical history and detailed consultations before any treatment takes place.”
Sarah Kidner, editor of Which? Computing, said: “It’s easy to forget that Botox is actually a poison. We were appalled that we were able to buy a DIY kit so easily and are concerned that the internet is becoming a marketplace for cut-price cosmetic treatments.”
Ebay removed the seller’s advert immediately after being contacted by Which? investigators.
Melanotan injections are illegal in this country due to safety fears. But the Which? Computing team found the jabs for sale at £31 on a UK-based website, along with instructions on how to inject them into the stomach. The website, Melanotan-Maverick.com, has since been shut down by the UK Medicines Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA).
To date, the MHRA has closed 18 websites selling Melanotan, but says it does not have jurisdiction over companies that operate in the US and distribute Botox in the UK.
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