Thousands of people across the country have received the email, which claims to be from a staff member at the pathology department of the hospital.

The message is entitled "Mail from Beaumont Hospital" and says, "A woman at a nightclub on Saturday night was taken by five men who, according to hospital and police reports, gang raped her before dumping her. Unable to remember the events of the evening, tests later confirmed the repeat rapes and, along with traces of Rohypnol in her blood, was Progesterex, which is essentially a small sterilisation pill. The drug is now being used by rapists at parties to rape AND sterilise their victims.

Progesterex is available to vets to sterilise large animals."

The mail goes on to warn that women who take the drug will never be able to conceive. It asks people to forward the message to others to warn about what is happening. The message purports to be from a member of staff at the hospital. Her phone number is included and, when the woman was contacted by the Sunday Tribune this weekend, she said that she had received countless calls from people about the message. She was not responsible for its content and Beaumont Hospital has launched an investigation to see where the email originated from.

It is believed that a similar message began circulating in the US in 1999, and that an Irish fraudster managed to get hold of the staff member's details and adapted the message for an Irish audience.

The drug Progesterex does not even exist. Last April, British MP Lynne Featherstone submitted a question to the Home Secretary asking for the number of date rapes involving Progesterex.

She was informed that the drug does not exist.

Gardai have confirmed that they have no record of any gang rape taking place as described in the message.

People are being asked to delete the email without forwarding it on to friends.