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TikTok marketing migraine and epilepsy medications to kids as weight loss aids

Following complaints that hosting them constituted a risk to the health of young people, TikTok has removed postings offering migraine and epilepsy medications to those under the age of 18 as weight loss aids.

When the Pharmaceutical Journal revealed that users were receiving prescription medicines disguised as diet pills, the social networking platform reacted by taking action.

The article found that advertisements for epilepsy, alcohol and addiction, and migraine drugs were targeted at a TikTok user, despite the user being classified as a female under the age of 16.

The appetite suppressant phentermine and its products were the prescription drugs that were mentioned the most in the posts. Phentermine use is not permitted in the UK.

The article found that 31 of the top 100 posts on the platform during a 90-minute period of monitoring its content promoted the use of diet tablets by people trying to lose weight. Medical experts, however, said that doing so was ‘completely wrong’ and may hurt people of all ages.

Some of the drugs TikTok promoted have been linked to serious side effects such unexpected birth outcomes.

According to the journal, TikTok did remove some videos, but not all. According to the Guardian, the hashtag ‘diet pills’ had been looked at, and ‘many accounts’ that promoted weight-loss drugs had been removed.

On Wednesday, TikTok came under fire for allowing cannabis-based treats that were altered to resemble Skittles and Haribo candy packages to be sold on its platform.

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