The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA). warned again for using the slimming pill Iomax, which is prohibited in the Netherlands. A woman suffered a cerebral hemorrhage last fall after taking the illegal drug. Side effect center Lareb received a report of this. In 2021 it had Lareb also a notification of a cerebral haemorrhage that could then be associated with taking Iomax.
Director Agnes Kant of Lareb warns against this type of illegal slimming pills, which are usually sold via the internet. “Our biggest concern is that the packaging does not state which ingredients are in the product. Users don’t know what’s in it.”
In the case of Iomax, amphetamine-like substances are often added. They reduce appetite, but are also addictive and can cause cerebral hemorrhages, among other things.
Each year, Lareb receives a few reports of side effects from people who have taken illegal weight-loss drugs
In addition to Iomax, Lareb has previously also warned against the slimming herbal preparations Sulami and Montalin. “After reporting a side effect, we always investigate whether there are remains of the suspected pills or preparations, and in principle always have them investigated by the RIVM,” says Kant. Like this was in Sulami the ingredient sibutramine was found. Sibutramine was on the market until 2010 as a component of an anti-obesity drug, but was withdrawn due to the risk of serious side effects. The complaints that Lareb received in connection with this drug were dizziness, hallucinations and insomnia. In the preparation Montalin anti-inflammatory painkillers and paracetamol have already been found.
Four people arrested
The NVWA’s Intelligence and Investigation Service division has arrested four people in recent months on suspicion of trafficking in illegal slimming pills. There are now two lawsuits pending, a spokesperson for the NVWA said. “One in The Hague and one in Rotterdam.” The Hague case involves three people, the Rotterdam case involves one. In Rotterdam, after a search of two homes and a business premises different types of steroids and 300 Iomax pills were found.
Blocking the sale of these types of slimming products via the internet is “very complicated”, says the spokesman for the NVWA. “For example, you have to demonstrate that there is something in the resources that should not be there.”
According to Kant, the Lareb receives “several times” reports of side effects from people who have taken illegal weight-loss drugs.
The Lareb spent two years ago her medicine journal attention to the sale of illegal substances. It concerns three groups of products. Doping drugs, which are mainly bought by young people and athletes. So-called shame medications, for which people prefer not to go to the doctor. This includes erection remedies, remedies for baldness and also slimming remedies. And then there are the substances that cause addiction, such as opiates.
A spokesman for the Dutch Doping Authority says that there are about 160,000 doping users in the Dutch gym and fitness world, of whom about 90,000 also use waste pills – legally and illegally. “Bodybuilders often consciously push the boundaries.” Another substance that is known to be taken by bodybuilders, among others, is DNP (2,4-dinitrophenol). It is processed in diet pills. In the UK, at least 32 people have died from these pills containing DNP. Two weeks ago, British Security Secretary Tom Tugendhat announced that DNP will be reclassified as a poison after its declassification in 1996.