CRIMINAL gangs are punting dodgy lip filler, Botox and weight loss jabs in an attempt to capitalise on Scotland’s £400million beauty trade.Industry regulators have now issued a stark warning as unlicensed cosmetics products are being pushed on Scots through social media platforms.2Industry experts are warning about fake filler flooding the marketCredit: Getty2They have also warned about the use of dangerous fake weight loss jabs with high levels of insulinCredit: GettyIn particular, gangsters are taking advantage of the rising demand in weight-loss injections by selling fake pens which contain a dangerous high level of insulin.This is compared to the more expensive pharmaceuticals in real treatments such as Ozempic or Mounjaro that are prescribed by a regulated pharmacist who meets strict criteria for usage. Legitimate beauty industry figures have said they have been threatened and intimated by crime mobs for warning of the dangers of fake items.One practitioner in Edinburgh told the Sunday Post that one clinic was warned their business would be torched.She said: “The threats are very real.”Andy Morling, deputy director of criminal enforcement at the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, Britain’s medicines watchdog, said: “The criminals are not only breaking the law, they also have no regard for people’s safety.”It is estimated that unregulated beauticians who provider filler injections outnumber licensed professionals three to one with a quarter of all procedures carried out at home instead of at a clinic.But rising costs also mean that legitimate beauticians are also targeted by gangs who offer them cheap products that are made in unregulated labs in places like South Korea or China.Most read in The Scottish SunHamish Dobbie, of the Scottish Medical Aesthetics Safety Group, told the Sunday Post newspaper: “Because these products are unlicensed, who knows what is in them, whether they are made in a filthy backstreet warehouse, or whether they contain harmful ingredients that could cause serious health risks.”Mr Dobbie said some of these products were being offered at hairdressers or nail bars – which have long been used as fronts for money laundering or human trafficking – or over social media. ‘Like a sledgehammer to my skull,’ says mum left in agony after £20 ‘skinny jab’ she bought on FacebookHe added that there was a real danger of disfigurement — and potentially even death — from badly administered fillers and anti-wrinkle injections. There is also a risk of blindness.Injectables are currently banned for under-18s in England but not in Scotland, meaning youngsters can hop over the border for procedures. But professionals like Mr Dobbie believes Scotland has one of the least regulated markets in Europe with specific concerns like blood-borne diseases, such as HIV or Hepatitis C, being spread by dodgy practitioners re-using needles and vials.Tory MSP Miles Briggs said: “We know from the experts we speak to that these cowboys won’t be throwing away vials with product in them as that will cost them money.“These are the type of people who are offering the cheapest deals after doing an online course, injecting people in their own homes. I have even heard of vape shops doing a roaring trade in fillers round the back of their shops.”Briggs said he did not think the issue was as high up the government agenda as it should be.The Scottish government said: “This is a fast-changing sector which is why we are working with key stakeholders to consider the potential scope of further regulation and make sure we get the detailed specifics right.”
https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/13157994/weight-loss-filler-fake-gangster-scotland/
Scots gangsters flog dangerous fillers & weight loss jabs ‘that could kill’ as they launder cash through beauty industry
