Beautiful Virgin Islands

Sunday, Oct 05, 2025

'Fake prescription drugs left my son brain damaged'

'Fake prescription drugs left my son brain damaged'

Joe began buying what he believed were genuine diazepam and Xanex pills from the internet to help with anxiety.

But he became addicted to the fake pills - which he continued to believe were real - and earlier this year they almost killed him.

Joe had struggled with shyness in his late teens and, like many, he found moving away to university a challenge.

But when the 23-year-old returned home to rural mid Wales after his first year, mum Sarah was initially excited to see changes in him.

"I would say his personality had changed," said Sarah.

"He was much louder and almost like a little bit brash. Naively, I thought he'd just come out of his shell."

What Sarah didn't know was Joe - not their real names - had begun to self-medicate with what he believed were genuine diazepam and Xanax pills bought online in an effort to help with his anxiety.

It wasn't long before his family noticed other changes in him too.

His mum found Joe after he had overdosed on fake prescription pills and had suffered a cardiac arrest

"He go through phases of sleep walking, mood changes, very dilated pupils," said 25-year-old Alex, Joe's older sister.

"I asked him to talk to me as a sibling, I said I wouldn't say anything to mum and dad, but he never did."

When he returned to university for his second year, his mum began to get phone calls from him in the middle of the night.

"He said 'I've been using prescription drugs to try and help myself and I think it's getting out of control,'" said Sarah.

"I became aware he was buying them on the internet and that he was using them to address his mental health issues. He'd researched what he thought he needed to take - and in his mind he'd tackled the problem.

"But as things got worse I think he became very afraid that he was being overtaken by the addiction."

When he was at home normal-looking packages would arrive for him - inside were what he believed to be prescription drugs. He eventually showed his mum them, hoping to reassure her.

Prescription drugs have to be prescribed by your GP but many people, like Joe, are going online to buy pills that they believe are legitimate to avoid consulting with a doctor.

Joe's mum and sister had been getting worried about his sudden mood swings

"It was mostly diazepam," she said. "It was in fully printed and marked packaging with batch numbers, dates and the information leaflet inside.

"To me they were the genuine drugs - and to Joe they were the genuine drugs.

"He used to say to me 'I know not to take too many, I know how many I should take, I'm in control, don't worry mum.'

"It didn't for one minute enter my mind that it wasn't what it said on the tin."

However the pills weren't what they claimed to be.

Joe showed his mum the drugs he had bought online in an attempt to reassure her

According to drugs testing lab Wedinos, between 45% to 65% of benzodiazepines sent in for testing, which include diazepam and Xanax, are actually fakes.

These pills can use unregulated and much stronger ingredients, frequently leaving users with pills up to 10 times stronger than what they think they are taking.

Joe had no idea the pills he was taking were fake. Earlier this year his mum went to wake him, only to find he had overdosed.

"I could see as soon as I approached the door that he was lying across his bed," recalled Sarah.

"The look of him, the feel of him, it just said to me 'he's dead, he's gone.'

"I just became hysterical. There was no-one in the house. I dialled the emergency services - and I couldn't speak - I was just shouting."

The paramedics battled to save Joe's life for hours. Eventually a decision was made to try to move him to hospital.

According to a drugs testing lab about a half of benzodiazepines sent in for testing, which include diazepam and Xanax, are fakes.

Sarah was told he could die on the way down the stairs, let alone the long journey to the nearest emergency department.

Joe had suffered a cardiac arrest. He survived, but suffered major brain damage.

"The prescription drugs that Joe had been buying on the internet were not legitimate," she said.

"It wasn't what he believed, and I believed, was in the tablets.

Some drugs charities in Wales say referrals for benzodiazepines have gone up 150% in the past year, with many warning about the dangers of buying pills online.

"It is incredibly easy to be deceived," said Josie Smith, national lead for substance misuse at Public Health Wales.

"We're seeing very clever marketing of tablets that look exactly as you would find from a prescribed medication. Even in the blister packs, with the packaging, it can look really like a medication.

"Certainly in the past few years, not only in Wales but also right across in Europe, we know these drugs have become incredibly easy to obtain. They're highly available, even promoted through particular website or social media.

"I think that's the challenge that we need to address, to inform and to increase awareness around the risk of not knowing what it is that you're taking - even if it looks like something you've been prescribed in the past."

For Joe, just 23 and still - several months later - fighting for his life, it is too late.

But his family are speaking out in the hope of raising awareness.

"Joe's story is still unfolding," said his sister Alex.

"But if we can help even one family, to not go through what we're going through, then that would be job done."

The names of Joe and his family have been changed to protect their identities.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
×