The family of a Salford woman, who died after receiving an unlicensed weight-loss injection, have urged the police to take serious action in stopping the sale of so-called “skinny jabs” on the black market.
Karen McGonigal, 53, from Salford, died days after she was administered a drug believed to be semaglutide – legally used to treat type 2 diabetes and weight management, but requires a prescription.
While the family currently await further test results, they believe the unlicensed weight-loss jabs were to blame for Mrs McGonigal’s death in May.
NHS England warns the drug, also known as Wegovy, can only be taken if a specialist weight management service prescribes it and is not recommended for those who are pregnant, breastfeeding or have certain health conditions.
Her daughters, Abbie, 32, and Ffion McGonigal, 25, told ITV News their mother had been struggling with her mental health and was “desperate” to lose weight after the end of a long-term relationship.
They said she had tried to access weight-loss medication through her GP but was unable to get it on the NHS.
According to the family, friends told Mrs McGonigal she could buy the injections privately from a local beauty salon. ITV News have reported seeing messages offering jabs for £20 each. Ffion said her mother was dosed a few times in the back room of the salon, without any proper medical preparation or sanitation.
Four days after her last injection, Mrs McGonigal became seriously unwell with severe stomach pain and breathing difficulties. Ffion, who was living with her at the time, called an ambulance. Two days after being admitted to intensive care, the doctors told the family there was nothing they could do.
Mrs McGonigal thought she was being injected with Mounjaroa (Tirzepatide) but doctors told the family she was in fact injected with semaglutide. Semaglutide requires a different dosage and the family therefore believe this to be the cause of death.
Greater Manchester Police confirmed that one person has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and another on suspicion of supplying a controlled substance. Enquiries are still currently ongoing.
The news follows a recent raid on an illegal laboratory in Northampton where authorities seized £250,000 worth of unlicensed drugs and packaging equipment. A spokesman from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said that this was the largest single seizure of trafficked weight loss medicines ever recorded by a law enforcement agency worldwide.
Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, says: “The Government is taking every action we can to clamp down on the availability of these sorts of drugs on the black market.”
He said the government and public must learn from Mrs McGonigal’s “shocking and avoidable loss” and urged the public only to seek weight-loss treatment from regulated medical providers.
“My message to the public is that whilst weight loss jabs can be really helpful to tackle obesity and there’s lots of evidence to support it, people must seek medical advice from regulated medical providers before taking this medication, and if people are seeing it for sale on the black market, they should report it.”
Abbie McGonigal is urging people not to take the “cheaper option”, warning that the consequences can be devastating.
“It’s heartbreaking and it’s really, really not worth it,” she told ITV.
“There’s so many people doing it; there’s so many people selling it; these people are getting away with destroying people’s lives.”
She said her family hoped that speaking out would prevent others from suffering similar harm.
She said: “If this interview saves another person or another family from going through what we have, then we’ve done enough.”
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