Consultant Says Online Medicines Will Cause 'lots' More Deaths

Consultant says online medicines will cause 'lots' more deaths

A consultant in emergency medicine says he expects many more deaths as a result of drugs bought online. Gardaí are investigating after it was confirmed yesterday that a man in his 20s died after taking a slimming product bought on the internet. The Health Products Regulatory Authority says the product he purchased contained DNP, which can speed up the body's metabolism. Dr Chris Luke is a consultant in emergency medicine in Cork University Hospital and the Mercy Hospital. He says one of the difficulties with policing the sale of drugs online is the anonymity of sellers. "I don't know what's to be done - I suspect that what will happen is there'll be lots and lots of deaths" he said. "This just echoes the kind of problems they had in the 20s and 30s with drugs like DNP, which eventually were banned". "I wonder if what'll happen is that in the next five to ten years because of a mixture of terrorism and online drug sales whether we'll see the elimination of anonymity online - I suspect that's one of the few things that will work" he added.