The Minister for Health has warned people about the effects of taking uncontrolled drugs bought online.

Leo Varadkar was speaking after it was confirmed that an Irishman in his twenties died after taking unauthorised diet pills bought on the internet.

Minister Varadkar says consumers should generally never buy any medication online unless the website carries a logo from the European Commission declaring that it's safe.

But he says there's no reason for people to buy tablets online if they're embarrassed about a condition when they can always trust a doctor for advice:

The Minister's comments follow those of a consultant in emergency medicine, who says he expects many more deaths as a result of drugs bought online.

The Health Products Regulatory Authority says the product he purchased contained DNP, which can speed up the body's metabolism.

Dr Chris Luke - consultant in emergency medicine in Cork University Hospital and the Mercy Hospital - says one of the difficulties with policing the sale of drugs online is the anonymity of sellers, and he fears there will be many more deaths from such drugs sold online to people unaware of their potential side effects.

He said the DNP chemical “one of the most worrying for toxicologists and chemists.”

“It was discovered after the war that when you mixed it with other chemicals it was useful for accelerating metabolism but as it became used popularly in the 1930s it was discovered it had some pretty horrific side effects,” he said.

“I don’t know what’s to be done. I suspect that what will happen is that there will be lots and lots of deaths, because this just echoes the kind of problems they had in the 1920s and 30s with drugs like DNP,” he said.

Listen below to Dr Chris Luke on Breakfast