US Patients Buy Unapproved Retatrutide Online Despite 22% Trial Weight-Loss Data
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Aug 31
US Patients Buy Unapproved Retatrutide Online Despite 22% Trial Weight-Loss Data
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 31
Summary
Patients in the US are increasingly buying Eli Lilly’s unapproved obesity drug retatrutide from gray-market sellers, often after plateauing on Ozempic, Mounjaro or Zepbound and failing to reach target weight.
Doctors say the appeal is strong because retatrutide is a triple-agonist and, in an 80-week trial, produced average weight loss of 22%—about 55 pounds—at the highest weekly doses.
Physicians and regulators warn unsupervised use can expose buyers to unknown dosing, impurities and contamination; Australia’s Victoria state reported six acute liver-toxicity cases in June tied to products labeled retatrutide.
Demand is being amplified online—a Reddit group draws more than 179,000 weekly visits—while Eli Lilly has sued six companies accused of selling the drug outside regulated channels.
Lilly said in August it would grant limited pre-approval access, but doctors describe the process as so restrictive that some patients still turn to overseas or gray-market sources.