eBay seller sentenced to 6 months in prison for selling deadly diet pills to consumers

Today, Acting U.S. Attorney Saima Mosin and Food and Drug Administration Special Agent in Charge Linda Bodrick announced that a Texas seller was sentenced to six months in federal prison for selling misbranded medications.

The convicted seller , Judith Holloway of Watauga , Texas, sold 2,4-dinitrophenol ( DNP ) as a weight loss drug to consumers throughout the United States and in some foreign countries between October 2018 and May 2020 .

According to court documents , DNP is a chemical that causes rapid weight loss after ingestion . However, the use of the drug also has a high probability of adverse reactions, including cataracts, hyperthermia, tachycardia, arrhythmia , etc., and in severe cases may lead to death .

As early as 1938, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declared DNP a dangerous substance unfit for human consumption and publicly announced that it would prosecute those who manufactured and sold DNP for use as a drug.

Holloway purchased large quantities of DNP and sold the drug through Internet marketing using eBay and other websites. Holloway did not put DNP labels on the packages, nor did he add any instructions or warnings about the use of the drug when mailing them to consumers .

eBay had previously removed Holloway ’s listings for violating its policy against the sale of dangerous goods . But Holloway was undeterred and re-listed the medications containing DNP on eBay using a different email address and a fake label . She mistakenly labeled DNP as “yellow pigment powder” and continued to sell it to consumers .

On June 2 , Holloway pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Patricia Morris. U.S. Attorney Mosin said : "We will use every tool at our disposal to prosecute offenders to protect the health and safety of the public . At the same time, we urge everyone not to consume DNP for any reason . "

The FDA said: "Ignoring FDA's requests and selling unapproved, dangerous drugs online can cause serious harm to those who use these drugs . We will continue to investigate and bring to justice those who endanger consumers' health. "

In short, when conducting business activities on e-commerce platforms, you must abide by relevant policies and regulations, and do not be greedy for temporary small profits. It is very important to operate with integrity.

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