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Chinese woman spends $130 on weight loss jabs promising 3.5 kg loss, ends up vomiting blood
A Chinese woman fell critically ill after an unregulated weight loss injection caused vomiting of blood.
A Chinese woman has sparked widespread concern after she began vomiting blood shortly after taking a so-called weight loss injection that she had purchased online.
According to a report by the South China Morning Post, the 28 year old woman, identified only by her surname Chen, is from Suzhou in Jiangsu province in southeastern China. More than a month ago, she came across an advertisement for a weight loss shot shared by a friend on social media. The friend claimed that each injection could guarantee at least 3.5 kilograms of weight loss. Attracted by the promise, Chen paid 900 yuan (US$130) for a treatment package consisting of three injections.
Rapid weight loss followed by alarming symptoms
Since she had never used similar products before, Chen decided to inject only half of the recommended dose. The injection was applied around her belly button. According to SCMP, she soon began to experience nausea, vomiting and a significant loss of appetite. Believing these to be normal reactions, she continued with the treatment.
“In the first three days, I really did lose almost a kilogram a day. I lost 5kg in total over just four days,” Chen said.
However, her condition deteriorated rapidly. “On the fourth day, I started vomiting green and yellow fluids. At the hospital, they told me it was bile and I had already burned the lining of my stomach,” she recalled.
While undergoing an electrocardiogram, the situation became critical. “While lying down for an electrocardiogram, I suddenly vomited blood. My digestive tract was damaged and already bleeding.”
She added, “At that point, my pulse had stopped. I was not aware of anything: blood draws, emergency procedures and atrial fibrillation treatment. I only learned about it after regaining consciousness. My boyfriend told me I had come very close to receiving a critical condition notice.”
Doctors stabilised her condition, but warned that her system had suffered considerable damage. Upon discharge, she was advised to wait at least a year before attempting to conceive.
Investigation reveals illegal production
China’s state broadcaster CCTV, as cited by SCMP, later found that the injections being sold under different trendy names in live stream salesrooms were unregulated. The products used forged or borrowed production licences and were manufactured in small unlicensed workshops.
Investigators found that illegally sourced semaglutide, a prescription medication used for type 2 diabetes and long term weight management, had been repackaged and sold as a cosmetic weight loss shot. Each injection reportedly cost only four yuan (US60 cents) to produce.
