Don't use 'tan jab', warn skin experts

Published on Tuesday 27 January 2009 20:59

SKIN experts have issued a warning over an "injectable tan" sold illegally on the internet and in some tanning salons and body-building gyms.

Melanotan, an unlicensed medicine dubbed the "tan jab", can cause rapid changes in the appearance of moles, according to dermatology experts.

Writing in the British Medical Journal, they describe two patients attending their dermatology clinic with rapidly changing moles and an intense tan, despite their fair skin type.

Both patients were sunbed users and both had injected the two types of the drug, Melanotan I and II, bought from the internet, shortly before their moles changed.

The "tan jab" works by increasing the levels of melanin – the body's natural pigment that protects the skin from the sun – resulting in a suntan.

It has not been tested by the medicines regulator.

The authors, a group of academics and consultants at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, warned that unregulated use of Melanotan might lead to a rise in the number of patients seeking medical advice about changing moles and could even confuse the diagnosis.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency warned consumers to avoid the product last month.

The regulator said that it had not been tested for safety, quality or effectiveness, and that its side-effects were unknown.

It also warned of serious safety issues around the use of needles to inject the substance.

A spokeswoman said: "This drug is not licensed anywhere in the world. We don't know what the short- or long-term side effects are, because there have been no thorough clinical trials carried out.

"We don't know what the health risks are and people should therefore steer clear of it."