The “heartbroken” daughters of a woman who died after being injected with a black market ‘skinny jab’ have called for a crackdown on the sale of unlicensed weight loss drugs.
In an exclusive interview with ITV News, the family are the first in the UK to speak publicly about a death linked to fake weight loss jabs.
Karen McGonigal, 53, from Salford in Greater Manchester, died in May, just days after she was illegally administered a dose of semaglutide.
Paying tribute to their “kind and loving” mother, Abbie and Ffion McGonigal said she had “lived for her kids and grandkids.”
“She had the biggest heart and would do anything for anybody,” Abbie told ITV News, adding, “if she was your friend – you were lucky”.
In the months before her death, Karen had been struggling with her mental health and was “desperate” to lose weight.
Her daughters say her self-esteem suffered when her long-term relationship ended, and she felt that being overweight was “ruining her life”.
“She didn’t feel happy in herself, she didn’t want to go out anywhere. I think she just wanted her old self back – she wanted to lose weight to get her confidence back,” said Abbie.
Karen visited her GP, where she had tests to see if she would be eligible for weight loss injections.
She was unable to get the medication on the NHS, but was told by friends that it was available to buy at a local beauty salon.
ITV News has seen text messages sent by a beautician offering the jabs for £20 each.
However, weight-loss injections can only be legally and safely dispensed with a prescription from a healthcare professional, such as a doctor or pharmacist.
Karen visited the salon a number of times for what she was told were Mounjaro injections.
Her youngest daughter, Ffion, told ITV News the beautician “stopped doing a woman’s nails” to take Karen into a back room where she was injected with a syringe.
“No preparation, no cleaning, nothing. She’d give it to my mum, my mum would pay her, and she’d be out in three minutes.”
Karen had started to lose weight, but four days after her last injection, she suddenly became unwell – in “agony” with severe stomach pains and was struggling to breathe.
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