Liverpool Woman Nearly Dies After Black Market Skinny Jab

A Liverpool woman who nearly died after injecting a weight loss drug bought from a friend of a friend warned others about the dangers of unregulated shots.

Chloe, not her real name, ended up in intensive care and missed three months of work after a single dose from a pen. She is a dress size eight, far from the obesity threshold these injections target, but has an eating disorder. Many of her friends already used black market versions.

"I did at one point think 'I'm dying, I'm dying,'" Chloe said. She fell ill after her first injection, collapsed in A&E and spent about 18 hours in resus.

"It's easy to get hold of really if you know the right person. You can see it everywhere, wherever you go people are talking about it," she said.

GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy and Mounjaro came to the UK in 2023 as obesity treatments. They mimic a gut hormone that signals fullness to the brain, curbing appetite especially for fatty foods. Clinical studies show patients can lose more than 20 percent of body weight in a year and a half.

Social media carries ads for beach-ready bodies aimed mostly at women seeking quick weight loss for events. In the UK, GLP-1s require a BMI over 30, or obese, plus a prescription from a pharmacist after checks.

People below that threshold turn to illegal sellers, often beauticians. Chloe tried several, who refused because she was not overweight. "As I've always said, it's no one else's fault but mine – I was the one who wanted it and I was the one who was determined to get it," she said.

Hours after her dose, she vomited uncontrollably for days. "There was that much of it, it burnt my stomach, my esophagus. It even burnt my nose because it was coming out of the top of my nose as well," she said.

Chloe is among several in the UK hospitalized after skinny jabs. Last May, Karen McGonigal from Salford collapsed and died days after a £20 salon injection, though the official cause remains unannounced.

Liverpool GP Nicki Mazey, an obesity expert, called the trend worrying. "It's not safe. I'm aware that people have ended up buying steroids instead of Mounjaro. I'm also aware that some people are sharing pens, which is a huge infection risk for HIV and hepatitis," she said.

Even eligible buyers struggle with costs up to £300 a month. Mounjaro and Wegovy are on the NHS under strict rules: BMI 35 or higher plus one related condition for Mounjaro, BMI 30 or higher plus one for Wegovy, with lower thresholds for some ethnic groups at higher risk.

NICE estimated 3.4 million qualify for Mounjaro alone, costing billions yearly and peaking at £3.9 billion in year two. The NHS limited it to BMI 40 with four conditions from a list of five, or 37.5 for some groups. From June, BMI drops to 35 but keeps the four conditions.

Mazey has seen BMI 100 patients denied for lacking all four conditions and turns down others who would benefit. She warned against illegal buys, even genuine ones. "These pens have to be stored in certain temperatures. They can't be out for more than 30 days once they've been opened," she said.

Save Face said illegal sellers largely escape punishment. "When these people are buying products from places like China and Korea and importing them, they literally have no idea what's in them," said director Ashton Collins. Some lack GLP-1 peptides; others contain windscreen wash.

The group wants regulators, police and MHRA to crack down. "We need to see the regulators, the police, the MHRA really clamping down on these people, making real examples and punishing these people with the full force of the law," Collins added.

Chloe missed more than three months of work. Her type 1 diabetes led to complications that may cause long-term liver damage.