Instagram has been urged by health leaders to clamp down on influencers using its platform to promote and sell a “dangerous” and unlicensed drug.
Senior NHS officials in England have written to the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, urging the company to shut down any accounts and content that promotes or attempts to sell Apetamin.
A BBC investigation said that Apetamin was being marketed by social media influencers as a way to get an extreme hour-glass, curvy figure, but it can cause side-effects including fatigue, jaundice and liver failure.
The letter, from NHS England’s national mental health director, Claire Murdoch, and national medical director, Professor Stephen Powis, alongside Kitty Wallace of the Body Dysmorphic Disorder Foundation, said the drug could result in “serious harm” to anyone who takes it.
Instagram has been urged by health leaders to clamp down on influencers using its platform to promote and sell a “dangerous” and unlicensed drug.
Senior NHS officials in England have written to the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, urging the company to shut down any accounts and content that promotes or attempts to sell Apetamin.
A BBC investigation said that Apetamin was being marketed by social media influencers as a way to get an extreme hour-glass, curvy figure, but it can cause side-effects including fatigue, jaundice and liver failure.
The letter, from NHS England’s national mental health director, Claire Murdoch, and national medical director, Professor Stephen Powis, alongside Kitty Wallace of the Body Dysmorphic Disorder Foundation, said the drug could result in “serious harm” to anyone who takes it.
BBC News
By Anna Collinson
NHS England has urged Instagram to clamp down on accounts selling an unlicensed, dangerous drug mainly targeted at younger women and girls.
The sale of Apetamin is illegal in the UK, but BBC Three revealed it is available in shops and online.
In an open letter, NHS leaders say they are concerned about the product s promotion and the impact on physical and mental health.
Instagram say selling non-medical drugs is strictly against our policies .
Apetamin is not licensed in the UK which means the regulator has not carried out tests to ensure it meets strict safety standards and it should not be sold, supplied or advertised.
Instagram told to stop influencers promoting âdangerous hourglassâ figure drug
The drug is widely available online but it is said to cause side effects including fatigue, jaundice and liver failure.
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Health leaders have told Instagram to clamp down on influencers using the social media platform to promote and sell Apetamin.