A grieving couple who are demanding a ban on the diet pills which killed their daughter have told how they helplessly watched her "gasping for breath, like a marathon runner after the last sprint". Tragic Bethany Shipsey, 21, bought the "fat-burning" tablets from another country.
She was rushed to hospital two days later but suffered a cardiac arrest and died on February 15, 2017. The pills are sold illegally as a weight-loss supplement and can cause organ failure and be fatal.
From October 1 this year, the drug will be classified as a poison but will still be legal to sell under certain circumstances. Anyone wanting to buy it, or products that contain it, must do so through a registered pharmacist.
Despite it being added to the list of regulated poisons under the Poisons Act 1972, Bethany’s parents are demanding an outright ban. Her father Doug, 58, and mother Carole, 63, are meeting with Security Minister Tom Tugendhat to argue their case to outlaw the drug.
They said: "It is clear to all those of us who have lost loved ones to this heinous chemical substance, that the UK Government have more than demonstrated, they are totally incapable of being entrusted, to regulate and control such a deadly toxic Poison.
“So the only acceptable and safe option available to the Home Office, is to prohibit (the drug) for any uses whatsoever i.e. Ban (the drug), and remove its accessibility from the Internet.”
The couple told how they watched in horror as Bethany died in agony as the pills burned her from the inside out. Carole, a nurse, said: “Bethany was bolt up right in bed, leaning forward, breathing faster than normal.
"She said 'I can’t see properly'. Her heart rate kept going up in increments and never did come back down again."
The couple begged A&E staff for ice to cool their daughter down but there was none so they filled rubber gloves with water and pressed them against Bethany's burning skin. Carole said: "I pushed her into the middle of the bed. She was white, really pale, eyes open and pupils were pin point.
“We lost one of the most precious things in our lives in Bethany. It’s really difficult because you watch her friends and within her peer group getting married and having babies and she should really be part of that."
Carole and Doug have joined forces with other parents whose loved-ones also died from the drug in calling for the pills to be banned.
They said: “We watched every minute of our child fighting for their life, whilst their body temperatures unstoppably continued to heat up, causing profuse sweating from the inside out, causing them to become so agitated, that atop of their hospital trolley bed, they were literally like Olympic athletes running for gold.
“Becoming redder and redder in the face, gasping for their breath like a marathon runner after the last sprint; until their heart and body could literally no longer sustain the effort to stay alive. The sheer heat and effort causing the muscles of the entire body to become rigid, including the chest wall, making it impossible to breathe. To the extent that not even intubation is possible.
“Leaving us only to watch, as the last flickers of life, drained out of our loved one’s eyes forever.”
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has also demanded an outright ban. English Board Chair Thorrun Goviind said: "It’s killing people and that’s why we’re so concerned about it.
"We're really pleased that it’s been put on the poisons register but we want to see it banned completely. There is no reason that this is needed for human or animal use so we want to make sure that people can’t access it and those that are selling this and making money out of vulnerable people are held to account for it."
The 2018 inquest into Bethany's death heard she was a rape victim who had previously taken 14 overdoses but was not considered a suicide risk. Worcestershire Coroners Court was told she was left on a hospital trolley in a packed A&E corridor while the pills "burned her from in the inside".
Shortly before she died, she sent a pal saying: "I have just overdosed on DNP. I'm petrified of telling anyone because it is like my 15th overdose."
An inquest heard Bethany had suffered mental health problems after she was trapped in an abusive relationship. She was sexually assaulted by her ex-boyfriend Barry Finch, who was jailed for six years in August 2016.
Coroner Geraint Williams recorded a narrative verdict, including a finding of suicide.
