Officials seize 200,000 slimming tablets a year

An average of nearly 200,000 slimming tablets are being seized every year, according to the State medicines watchdog.

Experts estimate the figure represents an unknown fraction of the total quantity bought on the web by unsuspecting consumers through often legitimate-looking online pharmacies.

It comes as gardaí and health authorities continue their investigations into the death of a young man following the suspected consumption of a slimming product ordered over the internet.